“I Am Not Proud Of The Primaries That Produced Atiku” – Chairman, ADC Presidential Primaries Committee

By Suleiman Anyalewechi

Former Youth and Sports Development Minister, and Chairman, African Democratic Congress, ADC, Presidential Primary Election Committee, Solomon Dalung has expressed disappointment with the standard of the party’s exercise which produced  former Vice president Atiku Abubakar as the party’s flag bearer.

Dalung admitted that the opposition Coalition platform, although much in existence, has lost its initial steam owing to some internal challenges

Dalung’s assessment is coming on the heels of the damning verdict passed on the primaries by the the trio of Rotimi Amaechi, Mohammed Hayatu-Deen, two participants in the exercise and former Secretary to the Government of the Federation SGF Babachir Lawal.

The ADC chieftains had separately and collectively, in the wake of the exercise, described it as heavily manipulated, compromised and laced with monumental irregularities.

In an interview on a podcast, Dalung informed that he was not satisfied with the general conduct of the primaries, and noted that the exercise fell short of the minimum acceptable standards of a democratic arrangement from an opposition Coalition.

According to him, the primaries fell well below the standards expected of a political party angling to present itself as a veritable alternative to the people ahead of the 2027 polls.

He emphasized that the country’s democratic arrangement after over two decades of uninterrupted experiment ought to have grown above the level where allegations of manipulations, irregularities, and compromised processes should surface.

According to the former Minister, having served on the presidential primaries Committee and having, also, witnessed some of the anomalies and challenges,the process was not a true reflection of the expected level of transparency ,and fairness by many observers.

“I am not proud of the presidential primaries that produced Atiku Abubakar because it fell short of my expectations.

“We should have done much better. After 26, or 27 years of democracy, Nigerians should not still be discussing issues such as rigging of primaries ,or the falsification of election results” Dalung noted .

However, despite the perceived shortcomings of the primaries and some internal challenges,Dalung maintained that the Coalition still has hopes of survival and achieving its core objectives.