ADC Primary Election Fallout
Chille Igbawua, a member of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) electoral panel, has called on dissatisfied aspirants — including former Transportation Minister Chibuike Amaechi and Mohammed Hayatu-deen — to pursue their complaints through the party’s official appeal process rather than publicly rejecting the primary outcome.
The former Rivers State governor alleged that roughly 80 percent of ADC members nationwide were barred from voting during the exercise. Hayatu-deen had also declared he would not attend the announcement of the presidential primary results, citing widespread irregularities.
Speaking on ARISE Television, Igbawua, who serves as an adviser to ADC National Chairman David Mark, reminded the aggrieved politicians that internal mechanisms exist for resolving disputes. He outlined the step‑by‑step appeal route:
“The electoral panels established appeal bodies that are already in place. If a candidate believes they were unfairly screened out, they can approach the appeal panel, which will review the case and clear them if justified.”
He added that the same appeal panels are available for the primary election itself, allowing any aggrieved participant to state their reasons and seek redress.
Igbawua noted that jumping to public disagreement before exhausting the appeal option is premature. He acknowledged that human processes can contain errors, which is precisely why the appeal panels were instituted.
He further clarified that, in recent cases, only two candidates were initially withheld clearance; both were later cleared by the appeal panel and went on to contest governorship primaries in their respective states.
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