Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has clinched the presidential ticket of the African Democratic Congress for the 2027 general election, setting the stage for his fourth formal run at the nation's top office.
Chief Returning Officer Tunde Ogbeha declared Atiku the winner late Wednesday night at the national collation centre in Abuja following a tense nationwide direct primary election. Atiku secured a commanding 1,846,370 votes, heavily outpacing his closest rival, former Rivers State governor Rotimi Amaechi, who polled 504,117 votes. Corporate technocrat Mohammed Hayatu-Deen finished third with 177,120 votes.
The two-day exercise utilised the Option A4 voting system across Nigeria’s 8,809 wards, where registered party members openly queued behind their preferred candidates. Atiku dominated the tallies in several northern strongholds and key southwestern states, while Amaechi held narrow margins in pockets of the Niger Delta region.
In his acceptance speech, Atiku praised the democratic environment of the party while criticising the ruling All Progressives Congress. He claimed that while democracy is being strangled and squashed by the ruling party and its operatives, it remains alive and well in the African Democratic Congress. National Leader Senator David Mark echoed this sentiment, describing the primary as a free contest but admitting that there was room for improvement.
However, the victory has plunged the newly formed opposition coalition into a severe internal crisis. Both defeated aspirants strongly condemned the process, threatening the fragile alliance built in mid-2025 to challenge President Bola Tinubu.
Amaechi rejected the outcome entirely, alleging widespread voter disenfranchisement and systemic manipulation. Writing on social media, the former Minister of Transportation stated he unequivocally rejected the concocted results being announced and would not attend the formal declaration. He noted he was concerned by reports of widespread vote rigging and would be taking advice on his next steps.
The decisive northern victory by Atiku has also reignited structural debates over zoning and regional power rotation, threatening to splinter the ADC just as previous disputes led high-profile politicians Peter Obi and Rabiu Kwankwaso to defect to the Nigeria Democratic Congress. Atiku stated he plans to personally visit Amaechi and Hayatu-Deen to appeal for party unity.