Mohammed Hayatu-Deen
Mohammed Hayatu-Deen, one of three aspirants seeking the Presidential ticket of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) for the 2027 election, has announced his withdrawal from the continuous process of the exercise, citing concerns over alleged irregularities.
In a statement circulated widely in the media and public space, on Tuesday, May 25, 2026, he said: “I will not be attending the announcement of the ADC Presidential Election Results today. I am concerned by reports from across the country of widespread vote rigging, some of which I myself observed, and will therefore be taking advice on my next steps….”
Hayatu-Deen claimed that reports of widespread vote rigging from different parts of the country, as well as some he had personally witnessed, had raised serious doubts about the credibility of the process.
In a related development, Nigeria’s former Transportation Minister Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi has also rejected the outcome of the African Democratic Congress, ADC, presidential primary election.
In a statement he personally signed and made public on Tuesday, Amaechi, a former Rivers State Governor, doubted the integrity of the entire process, recalling that he had committed to accepting a free, fair and transparent primaries.
“I had initially stated that I will only accept the outcome of the Primaries if the process was free, fair, and transparent, and I stand by my word. I will not accept results from a process that does not reflect the values that the ADC had pledged to uphold, to rescue Nigerians from the impunity and gross mismanagement that our country is currently facing in the hands of the ruling party.”
Amaechi criticised ADC for taking the part of the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC, which thrives in fettered and corruptive electoral activities. “A party that criticizes the ruling APC and INEC(Independent National Electoral Commission) for vote buying, rigging and writing of results, cannot be engaged in vote buying, writing of results, and other electoral malpractices that leads to the disenfranchisement of voters who are party members. This is not acceptable!”
Amaechi joins Mohammed Hayatu-Deen, another aspirant, who earlier rejected the results, saying that he witnessed vote buying and other irregularities first-hand.
His full statement reads:
Rotimi Amaechi
I REJECT THE CONCOCTED RESULTS OF THE ADC PRESIDENTIAL PRIMARIES
Following reports of widespread voter disenfranchisement in most parts of the country during the African Democratic Congress (ADC) Presidential Primaries yesterday, I unequivocally reject the concocted results being announced.
I had initially stated that I will only accept the outcome of the Primaries if the process was free, fair, and transparent, and I stand by my word. I will not accept results from a process that does not reflect the values that the ADC had pledged to uphold, to rescue Nigerians from the impunity and gross mismanagement that our country is currently facing in the hands of the ruling party.
There’s no way that about eighty percent of members of the party were not allowed to vote, and you expect me to accept such results. Then what makes us different from the others? The whole idea of the ADC was to give the Nigerian people a platform, to amplify the voices of the downtrodden, and make Nigeria a better place for everyone irrespective of backgrounds, ethnicity, or religion.
A party that criticizes the ruling APC and INEC for vote buying, rigging and writing of results, cannot be engaged in vote buying, writing of results, and other electoral malpractices that leads to the disenfranchisement of voters who are party members. This is not acceptable!
– Rt Hon. Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi