A prominent chieftain of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), Ibrahim Wala, has accused the party’s presidential primary election of being marred by widespread intimidation, vote buying, and other serious irregularities. Wala, who is a staunch ally of former presidential aspirant Rotimi Amaechi, monitored the exercise in Gombe State and has come forward with what he describes as undisputed evidence of voter disenfranchisement and manipulation.
According to Wala, the entire process was a “brazen, shameless auction” that trampled on every principle the ADC had vowed to uphold. He claimed that the primary results were not decided at the polling stations but rather behind closed doors in a hotel room. “I was personally approached by an agent who offered to take me to the committee leadership’s hotel room to secure whatever I needed,” Wala alleged in a Facebook post. He described the hotel room as a “clandestine situation room” where party leaders retreated to finalize their manipulative work.
This allegation comes just a day after Amaechi himself rejected the primary results, citing a lack of transparency and fairness. Wala has now echoed that sentiment, calling on former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, who is currently leading the race, to immediately disassociate himself from what he termed “dirty, concocted primary election results.” He urged Atiku to reject the outcome and align with the principles of internal democracy.
Wala further claimed to have gathered concrete proof of irregularities and widespread voter disenfranchisement that occurred under his watch in Gombe. He emphasized that the evidence would be made public in due course, promising to expose the extent to which the primary was rigged. “This was not a primary election; it was a pre-arranged outcome dictated in a hotel room,” he concluded.