Former Vice-President and presidential aspirant of the African Democratic Congress, Atiku Abubakar, has won the party’s presidential primary election conducted across the 23 local government areas of Sokoto State.

The result was announced on Monday by the state chief returning officer, Prof. Aminu Abubakar.

“I therefore hereby declare Alhaji Atiku Abubakar as the presidential candidate with the highest number of votes cast in Sokoto,” he said.

The result was announced in the presence of officials of the Independent National Electoral Commission, security personnel, and party stakeholders, including former Sokoto State governor, Aminu Waziri Tambuwal, and the ADC governorship candidate in the state, Mannir Dan Iya, the senatorial candidate for Sokoto South, Faruk Malami Yabo, and the state party chairman, Abdullahi Maigwandu, among others.

According to the results, Atiku polled over 68,823 votes to defeat Muhammad Hayatuddeen, who got 319 votes, and Rotimi Amaechi, who polled 292 votes.

An African Democratic Congress, ADC, presidential aspirant, Rotimi Amaechi, has given condition to question the party’s ongoing presidential primary.

Amaechi disclosed that he would react and question the process of the primary election if it’s not free and fair.

He spoke to journalists after casting his vote at the ongoing ADC’s presidential primary in his Ward of Ubima, Ikwerre Local Government Area of Rivers State.

According to Amaechi: “It was a huge number of turn out, first there was celebration and dancing, then we got the INEC people involved and I did cast my vote and left the place.

“I was monitoring the country state-by-state where I was, I hope the system would be transparent as it was in my village, if it’s transparent I would accept the result but if it’s not free and fair a lot of us would react.

“The answer is yes, If the other person wins, I will work with him but if the process is not free and fair, I would question it.”

The African Democratic Congress, ADC, has told President Bola Tinubu that it would rescue Nigeria from the economic blackhole his administration has plunged the country into.

The National Publicity Secretary of the party, Bolaji Abdullahi, said this in a statement on Monday, lamenting that worsening hunger, rising insecurity, business failures and growing public frustration had deepened hardship across the country.

The party equally raised concerns over the All Progressives Congress, APC, presidential primary figures that returned President Tinubu with 10.99 million votes ahead of the 2027 election.

The ADC described the president’s recent remarks against the opposition as ironic and disconnected from the realities facing ordinary Nigerians.

“If the opposition is going to take the country backwards, it would be to reset it from the edge of the dangerous precipice that the current administration has placed it on, because to continue on the same trajectory is to plunge the country into the abyss.

“It is both ironic and tragic that a government under whose watch nearly 35 million Nigerians are now projected to face acute food insecurity in 2026 would accuse the opposition of lacking ideas or vision,” the statement said.

It added that inflation had weakened household incomes, while soaring food prices and worsening insecurity continued to place severe pressure on millions of families.

According to the ADC, businesses were shutting down daily under harsh economic conditions, while many farmers could no longer safely access their farmlands because of banditry, kidnappings and violent attacks.

The opposition party also cited reports projecting that about 34.7 million Nigerians could face severe food and nutrition insecurity during the 2026 lean season, while more than 2.3 million people remained displaced by violence and insecurity.

Yet, the ADC said the president had chosen political attacks instead of empathy and accountability.

“President Tinubu must understand that Nigerians are no longer interested in speeches or political grandstanding.

“Nigerians are asking simple questions: Why is food unaffordable? Why are businesses collapsing? Why are citizens increasingly unsafe? Why are more Nigerians falling into poverty despite endless promises of reform and recovery,” it asked.