Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has been declared the winner of the presidential primary of the African Democratic Congress (ADC).

The party said Atiku polled 1,846,370 votes to beat his closest rival, former Rivers State governor Rotimi Amaechi, who polled 504,117 votes.

It also said businessman Mohammed Hayatu-Deen got 177,120 votes in the primary.

In his acceptance speech, Atiku commended the party for demonstrating that democracy is alive in the ADC.

He also decried the challenges faced by opposition parties and leaders in the country.

“We demonstrated that while decmocrtacy os being strangled and squashed by its ruling party and its operatives, democracy is alive and well in the African Democratic Congress,” he said.

National of the party, Senator David Mark, said that the party allowed a free contest and allowed the members to make their choice.

He said that though the exercise was not perfect, there was room for improvement.

Mark said each of the aspirants was qualified to lead, but only one person could fly the flag of the ADC.

The battle for the presidential ticket intensified on Monday as Atiku, Amaechi, and Hayatu-Deen squared off in the party’s nationwide direct primary election.

Voting took place across Nigeria’s 8,809 wards, with members openly queuing behind their preferred aspirants under the Option A4 voting system.

But while Atiku lauded the process, the former Rivers governor and Hayatu-Deen faulted the process.

Amaechi, who is a former Minister of Transportation, rejected the outcome, alleging widespread voter disenfranchisement during the exercise.

“Following reports of widespread voter disenfranchisement in most parts of the country during the African Democratic Congress (ADC) Presidential Primaries yesterday, I unequivocally reject the concocted results being announced,” he stated on X.