Mallam Bolaji Abdullahi, National Publicity Secretary of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), has said that the just-concluded presidential primary of the party is highly competitive due to the calibre of aspirants vying for the party’s candidacy ahead of the 2027 general elections, news.ng reports.
Abdullahi, who said this on Arise Television on Monday night, noted that the party is the only political platform in the country that is not controlled by an individual.
He said: “Internal election that I have experienced in my life, even as I speak to you, I cannot tell you who will win in my state, Kwara State, and in many other states that I’ve been closely watching. It is that competitive.
“You know, so in a way it’s exciting that ADC is sticking to this principle of competition, internal competition, and we’re able to showcase ourselves as the only political party in this country today that is not beholden to an individual, that is not controlled by an individual. Where a Rotimi Amaechi can be challenging, Atiku Abubakar, Hayatudeen can be challenging Rotimi Amaechi. And so, I mean, it’s, it’s quite fascinating.”
On why the party did not adopt the consensus mode of selecting its presidential candidate, Abdullahi noted that the party opted for the primary election because adopting a consensus candidacy would require the party to hold a convention, which would not be possible due to the pending court cases.
“When you broker a consensus, it will still require you to do a convention to affirm and some of the court situations that we have at the moment does not allow us to hold a convention. So, the only option left to us was to go ahead with this direct primary,” he noted.
On the level of quality and qualifications each aspirant possesses, the party’s spokesman categorically stated that the candidates are highly qualified, adding that they would perform better than President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
He added: “So, of course, I must admit that efforts were made up to the last minute to try to see if there could be some kind of understanding among the three but when you have three top-class candidates who each one in their own rights is eminently qualified and eminently capable, because we are convinced in the African Democratic Congress that any one of these three will do better than President Bola Tinubu. So, to deciding who among the three of them should withdraw for whom, even for us, is a challenge.”
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