The African Democratic Congress (ADC) has held its presidential primary election in Bayelsa State, where the former Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi, defeated the former Vice-President, Atiku Abubakar.
The state results showed Amaechi polled 44,404 votes to defeat Atiku who got 6,570 votes, it was reported.
Another participant, Mohammed Hayatudeen, received 939 votes in the state.
The result put Amaechi ahead in Bayelsa as the party continued to collate results from the various states in the country.
But Atiku faired well in Imo State where he thrashed Amaechi by a wide margin.
According to the state’s result, Atiku scored 52,200 votes while Amaechi polled 7,659 votes.
Hayatudeen came a distant third with 1,121 votes.
The result from Imo gave Atiku a big boost in the contest as results from other states were still being awaited at the time of filing this report.
The ADC presidential primary is highly awaited as the party gets ready to unveil its flagbearer for the 2027 presidential election.
The results from other states are pouring in and the aspirants remain in contest.
Amaechi had a resounding victory in Bayelsa while Atiku had a convincing win in Imo, leaving the two leading aspirants with mixed fortunes in the two states.
Amaechi had earlier vowed to reject the outcome of the presidential primary if the process was not free and fair.
Amaechi, a former governor of the state, said this after casting his vote at his ward in Ubima, Ikwerre Local Government Area of Rivers State.
But he said he would accept the result and work with whoever is chosen as the party’s presidential candidate if the process is credible.
After voting, Amaechi told journalists that the turnout in his ward was impressive and peaceful.
He said the officials of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) were present during the exercise before he cast his vote.
“It was a huge turnout, Amaechi said. First there was celebration, then we got the INEC people involved, I cast my vote and then left the place.”
The former minister said he had been following the conduct of the primary across the country from the Rivers State.
Amaechi said whether he accepts the outcome of the primary would depend on whether the process across the country was as transparent as what he saw in his community.
“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,” he said.
The ex-governor said the ADC must guarantee that the process is in line with the wishes of party members.
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