By Abubakar Yunusa
The factional leadership of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), led by Nafiu Bala Gombe, has announced the successful completion of its screening exercise, clearing 1,657 aspirants to participate in the party’s forthcoming primary elections across the 36 states of the federation and the Federal Capital Territory.
The ADC leadership maintained that the screening process was transparent, credible and in line with democratic principles.
In a statement by the ADC National Chairman, Hon. Nafiu Bala Gombe, the party disclosed that screening committees were constituted in all states and the FCT in line with the party’s constitution and electoral guidelines to oversee the exercise.
The party, however, disqualified 212 aspirants for failing to meet the stipulated screening requirements.
He stressed that only aspirants who met the constitutional and electoral requirements of the party were cleared to contest in the forthcoming primaries.
Gombe said: “In accordance with the Constitution of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) and the party’s electoral guidelines, the national leadership constituted screening committees across the 36 states of the Federation and the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja.
“These committees were mandated to conduct the screening exercise for all aspirants seeking to contest for elective offices in the forthcoming primary elections.
“The screening process was conducted successfully and in an orderly, cordial atmosphere. A total of 1,869 aspirants presented themselves for the exercise, out of which 1,657 were cleared as qualified to participate in the primaries.
“The remaining 212 aspirants were not cleared for the following reasons: inconsistencies in their declared dates of birth and discrepancies in their academic graduation years; lack of authentic party membership cards; and non-compliance with the stipulated guidelines for participation in the primary election.
“Out of the 980 aspirants who participated in the screening exercise for State House of Assembly positions, 155 were disqualified and deemed ineligible to proceed to the primary election.
“In addition, 50 aspirants for the House of Representatives did not meet the screening requirements, while 7 aspirants for the Senate were similarly unsuccessful and did not pass the exercise.”
