Former governorship aspirant, Hon. Chille Igbawua, has said that the presidential candidate of the Nigerian Democratic Congress, NDC, made a mistake leaving the African Democratic Congress, ADC. 

He said the former Anambra State governor should have stayed in the ADC and learn some lessons even if he loses the primary election to Alhaji Atiku Abubakar.

Igbawua, who is a member of the ADC Electoral Panel and Adviser to ADC National Chairman, David Mark, stated this when he appeared on Channels Television on Tuesday evening, insisting that there was a level playing ground for all the contestants in the APC primary.

He said in Benue, for instance, Atiku got 55,000 votes, Amaechi scored 30,000, and Hayatu-deen polled 22,000, to show that the playing field was level.
He said, “We started this process of the coalition, and I was there at the beginning, from where we adopted ADC as the political platform. 

“Hayatu-deen was part of it from the beginning, but abandoned it later, and then came back later. And some of the issues that we’re hearing is that most people didn’t even know he came back and was in the contest.

“But let me give you an example of Benue, for instance, Atiku polled 55,000 votes, Amaechi polled 30,000, Hayatu-deen polled 22,000.

“This shows that it was a level playing field for all. By the time all the results are out, we will be able to analyze it further.

“But as it stands now, I think that is one of the examples of the playing field being level, and the fact that each of them has won in some places also shows that if they had that reach, and I think you were correct when you said Atiku Abubakar over the years has built a very massive political machinery, it’s a fact.

“But when some people said they would not want to go into contest with Atiku, because he will always win. I said no, he has lost primaries before, so it’s not right to say he will always or maybe he has always won, he has lost it sometimes.

“So I thought it was only proper to stay back and try your luck and see if you didn’t win, you will learn lessons from the loss, and you will know where you went wrong. How better to go against him or some other persons in the future.”

Asked if he thinks Peter Obi is thanking his heavens right now for not staying back to contest against Atiku Abubakar in the ADC primary, he said, “I don’t think he can thank his heavens. 

“Where he has gone all the best to him. But I don’t think that he, to me, he has his opinion. I don’t think he made the right choice, as far as I’m concerned. 

“When this process started, it was all about saving Nigeria. It was not about personal ambition. Some of us have also sacrificed at our level. I have been involved in the National Assembly, I have been Chief Executive of the Public Complaints Commission of Nigeria, I have contested governorship. This time I said let me allow the field for others behind me to also try.

“So we are making sacrifices, and we thought honestly that if what we’re saying in the beginning that we are out for the interest of Nigerians and not our personal interest, I expected that we should, each of us, be able to make sacrifices at our various levels.

“So when somebody, because of losing out a personal ambition, you know, begins to abandon ship, that’s why I say I don’t think it’s the right decision.”

Former chieftain of the All Progressives Congress, APC, Umar Ardo, has revealed that it was his idea to form the party for late President Muhammadu Buhari to contest in 2015.

Speaking during an interview on Arise Television on Tuesday, Ardo dismissed the claims of former Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi that he made Buhari the president.

According to him, no single person can claim to have made somebody president.

DAILY POST recalls that Amaechi had claimed that he fought all the battles that gave Buhari victory in the 2015 presidential election.

Responding, Ardo said, “The idea of forming the APC for Buhari’s contest in 2015 was mine not Amaechi’s.

“No single person can claim to have made somebody president; it would need a large number of people and groups, but every idea starts with a single person, and the idea to form the APC was mine.

“Before the 2011 general elections, Buhari made a statement that he would not contest again if he lost and he actually lost.

“I personally went to him and asked him to contest again. I told him the reason he had not won elections is that he had never gone outside the North to campaign. You need one zone in the South to win election.

“You can get the Southwest only if you get current President Bola Tinubu as Vice Presidential candidate. In 2011, Tinubu wanted to be Vice President but they went and brought Pastor Tunde Bakare.

“With that, Tinubu went ahead and had some consultation with former Goodluck Jonathan and supported him.

“Even though Buhari had said he would not go to the tribunal, I asked him to go so as to keep his political flag flying.”

Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar is heading for victory with a wide margin in the ongoing presidential primaries of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), as results released from several states show him maintaining a comfortable lead over his opponents.

Atiku is contesting the party’s presidential ticket alongside former Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi and economist, Mohammed Hayatu-Deen ahead of the 2027 general election, where the ADC hopes to challenge the ruling All Progressives Congress’s President Bola Tinubu.

Results announced so far at the party’s collation center, Transcorp Hilton, Abuja, indicate a strong showing for Atiku.

In Kebbi State, Atiku polled 65,523 votes to defeat Amaechi, who scored 5,931 votes, while Hayatu-Deen secured 454 votes.

In Anambra State, Atiku garnered 58,566 votes ahead of Amaechi’s 17,085 votes and Hayatu-Deen’s 7,861 votes.

Abia State also went in favour of Atiku, who secured 25,153 votes, while Amaechi scored 18,339 votes and Hayatu-Deen got 2,264 votes.

In Ekiti State, Atiku polled 18,395 votes, defeating Amaechi, who recorded 1,574 votes, while Hayatu-Deen secured 149 votes.

Meanwhile, the exercise has continued to generate controversy, with both Amaechi and Hayatu-Deen rejecting the credibility of the process over alleged irregularities.

Hayatu-Deen announced that he would boycott the official announcement of the primary results, citing what he described as widespread vote rigging and manipulation during the exercise.

In a statement posted on his X account on Tuesday, the presidential aspirant alleged that the process was marred by irregularities that undermined the integrity of the election.

“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 stated.

Reacting to the allegation, the National Publicity Secretary of the ADC, Bolaji Abdullahi, said the party had not seen sufficient evidence to either confirm or dismiss Hayatu-Deen’s claims.

Speaking during an interview on Channels Television’s Politics today, Abdullahi said the party was still awaiting results from several states before concluding collation.

“We don’t have any evidence to be able to support his position or to deny his position because we’ve not collated the results,” he said.

“We’ve not noticed any pattern in the result, and we’ve not seen enough to be able to establish a pattern.

“Eleven states’ results have been received so far. We are still awaiting other results. Any moment from now we are going to start the collation.”

Amaechi had earlier rejected the results, describing them as “concocted” and alleging widespread voter disenfranchisement in several parts of the country.

According to him, the ADC was formed to provide Nigerians with a credible alternative political platform and should not be associated with the same electoral malpractice it criticises in other political parties.

The ADC presidential primaries were monitored by officials of the Independent National Electoral Commission across the country.

Collation of results from other states was still ongoing as of press time at the party’s national collation centre in Abuja.