In a swift move to preserve the fragile stability of the newly consolidated opposition front, the winner of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) presidential primary, former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, on Wednesday night held a closed-door meeting with his closest rival, the former Minister of Transportation, Rt. Hon. Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi.
The high-stakes meeting, which took place at Atiku’s Asokoro residence in Abuja, came barely 24 hours after the ADC national leadership declared the veteran politician the winner of the party’s nationwide direct presidential primary.
[The ADC Presidential Primary Outcome]
│
┌───────────┼───────────┐
▼ ▼ ▼
Atiku Abubakar Rotimi Amaechi M. Hayatu-Deen
1,846,370 504,117 177,120
(Declared Winner) (Protested) (Third Place)
Extending the Olive Branch
According to sources privy to the discussions, Atiku initiated the meeting to mitigate the immediate fallout of the primary election, where he polled a commanding 1,846,370 votes against Amaechi’s 504,117 votes and businessman Mohammed Hayatu-Deen’s 177,120 votes.
In a statement released shortly after the private session, Atiku commended Amaechi for a fiercely contested campaign, reiterating that the primary was not a battle between enemies but a demonstration of vibrant internal democracy within the ADC. He noted:
“We demonstrated that while democracy is being strangled and squashed by the ruling party and its operatives, it is alive and well in the African Democratic Congress. But the real work begins now. We have to unite, as we pledged before this process, to work to pull our country and our people out of the destructive grip of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).”
The former Vice President emphasized that Amaechi’s formidable political structure across the South-South and North-West geopolitical zones remains vital to the opposition’s grand strategy to unseat President Bola Ahmed Tinubu in 2027.
The Party Leadership’s Position
The National Chairman of the ADC, Senator David Mark, threw his weight behind the reconciliation efforts, emphasizing that the party’s unique electoral process was designed to be as transparent as possible, though not without logistical hitches.
Speaking to journalists at the party’s national secretariat in Abuja, Mark observed that while each of the aspirants possessed the requisite credentials and national stature to lead Nigeria, the statutory reality dictated that only one individual could carry the party’s flag into the general elections.
“Our members made a clear choice through a nationwide process,” Senator Mark stated. “It was an expansive exercise across all 8,809 wards of the federation. We acknowledge that room for improvement exists, but the overall outcome reflects the democratic will of the party. We expect all stakeholders to respect the pledge of unity made prior to the balloting.”
Insiders report that Wednesday night’s meeting concluded with an agreement to form a joint committee composed of representatives from both the Atiku and Amaechi camps. This body will be tasked with integrating their respective campaign structures ahead of the formal flag-off of the independent national electoral campaign.
