The African Democratic Congress has suspended the collation of results from its presidential primary election amid rising tension over allegations of voter disenfranchisement, rigging and result manipulation.
The Chairman of the ADC Presidential Primary Election Committee, Ikechi Emenike, announced the suspension late Tuesday, saying the exercise would resume by 8:00 p.m. on Wednesday.
According to Emenike, the postponement was to allow Muslim members of the party to celebrate Eid-el-Kabir and participate in religious activities.
He also said some returning officers from states where results were still being expected had flight challenges in getting to Abuja.
“We are postponing the collation to allow our brothers and sisters to celebrate Sallah, participate in the religious activity and to enable returning officers who had flight challenges to arrive Abuja later today,” Emenike stated.
Before the suspension, results from several states and the Federal Capital Territory had already been announced by state returning officers, while collation from the remaining states was expected to continue after the break.
The suspension came as two presidential aspirants, former Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi, and economist Mohammed Hayatu-Deen, rejected the process over alleged irregularities.
Amaechi, in a statement issued on Tuesday, described the results being announced as “concocted” and alleged that about 80 per cent of party members were not allowed to vote.
“Following reports of widespread voter disenfranchisement in most parts of the country during the African Democratic Congress presidential primaries yesterday, I unequivocally reject the concocted results being announced,” Amaechi said.
He said he had earlier made it clear that he would only accept the outcome of the primary if the process was free, fair and transparent.
“There’s no way that about 80 per cent of members of the party were not allowed to vote, and you expect me to accept such results,” he added.
Amaechi said the ADC was expected to provide Nigerians with a credible alternative and should not be involved in the same practices it criticises in the ruling All Progressives Congress and the Independent National Electoral Commission.
“A party that criticises the ruling APC and INEC for vote-buying, rigging and writing results cannot engage in vote-buying, writing results and other electoral malpractices that lead to the disenfranchisement of voters who are party members. This is not acceptable,” he said.
Earlier, Hayatu-Deen also announced that he would not attend the official declaration of the primary results, citing reports of widespread vote rigging.
“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,” he said.
Despite the objections, early results from several states showed former Vice President Atiku Abubakar maintaining a strong lead in the race.
In Sokoto State, Atiku polled 68,823 votes, while Hayatu-Deen scored 319 votes and Amaechi secured 292 votes.
Atiku also won in Yobe State with 44,841 votes, while Hayatu-Deen polled 365 votes and Amaechi scored 300 votes.
In Ekiti State, Atiku secured 18,395 votes, defeating Amaechi, who scored 1,574 votes, while Hayatu-Deen polled 149 votes.
Atiku also won in Anambra State with 58,566 votes. Amaechi came second with 17,085 votes, while Hayatu-Deen scored 7,861 votes.