Atiku Wins ADC Presidential Ticket With Over 1.8m Votes

Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has emerged as the presidential candidate of the African Democratic Congress for the 2027 general election after securing a landslide victory in the party’s nationwide direct primary.

The ADC announced that Atiku polled 1,846,370 votes to defeat former Rivers State governor, Rotimi Amaechi, who garnered 504,117 votes, while businessman Mohammed Hayatu-Deen secured 177,120 votes.

The presidential primary, conducted across Nigeria’s 8,809 wards using the Option A4 voting system, saw party members openly queue behind their preferred aspirants.

Declaring the result, the party leadership said the exercise reflected the democratic spirit within the ADC despite complaints raised by some contestants after the poll.

In his acceptance speech, Atiku praised the party for conducting what he described as a transparent democratic process at a time opposition politics was facing pressure in the country.

“We demonstrated that while democracy is being strangled and squashed by the ruling party and its operatives, democracy is alive and well in the African Democratic Congress,” he said.

The former vice president also pledged to work towards strengthening the opposition ahead of the 2027 presidential election.

National Chairman of the ADC, David Mark, said all the aspirants were qualified to lead the country but noted that only one candidate could emerge from the contest.

Mark described the exercise as largely successful, though he admitted there was room for improvement.

According to him, the party allowed members to freely decide who should fly its flag in the next presidential election.

The contest, however, ended on a controversial note as both Amaechi and Hayatu-Deen rejected the outcome, alleging irregularities and voter suppression during the exercise.

Amaechi, a former Minister of Transportation, accused the party leadership of announcing what he described as “concocted results.”

“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,” he wrote on X.

Hayatu-Deen also distanced himself from the declaration of results, citing allegations of widespread vote manipulation.

“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.

The primary marked a major moment in the ongoing opposition realignment ahead of the 2027 polls.

Atiku and Amaechi joined the ADC in July 2025 alongside several opposition figures in a bid to build a stronger coalition capable of challenging President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and the ruling All Progressives Congress.

Former Anambra State governor Peter Obi was initially part of the coalition talks before defecting to the Nigeria Democratic Congress alongside former Kano governor Musa Kwankwaso.

Atiku’s emergence reinforces his dominance within northern political blocs and opposition circles as he prepares for another presidential contest.

Having previously contested multiple times for Nigeria’s highest office, the former vice president is expected to rely heavily on his nationwide political structure and longstanding alliances as the ADC positions itself as a major opposition platform ahead of 2027.