ADC primary winner kicks as party allegedly replaces him with APC defector in Adamawa

By Musa Baba Adamu with agency report

The winner of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) primary election for the Yola North/Yola South/Girei Federal Constituency in Adamawa State, , has protested the alleged substitution of his name with that of a former All Progressives Congress (APC) lawmaker who finished seventh in the contest.
Abubakar accused the party leadership of attempting to overturn the outcome of the primary election in favour of , who recently defected to the ADC after failing to secure the APC ticket for the constituency.
According to the official results announced by the returning officer, Abubakar polled 33,931 votes to emerge winner of the primary, while Babazango secured 4,359 votes and placed seventh.
Speaking on the development, Abubakar said he had confirmed at the party’s national secretariat that his name had allegedly been replaced despite his overwhelming victory at the polls.
“I am just coming from the party’s national secretariat, and I can confirm to you that my name was substituted with that of Abubakar Babazango, who recently defected to the party. This is unacceptable,” he said.
The aggrieved aspirant argued that contestants invested time and resources campaigning across the constituency because they believed the party would respect democratic principles and the outcome of a transparent primary election.
He maintained that the committee that conducted the exercise submitted a report affirming his victory and questioned why the result was allegedly being altered after the fact.
Abubakar warned that such a move could trigger legal disputes and damage the party’s reputation ahead of the general election.
He has also submitted a petition to the ADC national leadership, urging it to uphold the result of the May 21, 2026 primary election and preserve the integrity of the party’s internal democratic process.
In the petition, he noted that the election was conducted by a duly constituted committee in the presence of party stakeholders and officials of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), after which he was officially declared winner and issued result sheets confirming the outcome.
The controversy intensified following the circulation of a purported list on social media allegedly showing Babazango as the party’s candidate for the constituency.
Abubakar insisted that the officially declared results remain valid and called on the party’s National Working Committee, National Executive Committee and Appeal Committee to protect the mandate freely given to him by party members.
He urged the leadership to respect the will of delegates and avoid actions that could undermine confidence in the ADC’s commitment to internal democracy.