Monday August 18, 2025
By The NewsDESK |
The African Democratic Congress, ADC, has said that the by-elections held on Saturday, August 16, across 13 states and 16 constituencies of the federation, represent the clearest indication of a dress rehearsal for 2027.
The party said they exposed how far Nigeria’s electoral process has deteriorated under President Bola Tinubu and the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC.
Expressing grave concern over the conduct of the elections, the ADC, which said the by-elections represent the clearest indication of a dress rehearsal for 2027, added that the flawed by-elections doesn’t define the coalition strength.
ADC, in a statement on Sunday, August 17, by its National Publicity Secretary, Mallam Bolaji Abdullahi, noted that the elections were riddled with widely reported violence, vote buying, manipulation, and other administrative lapses.
The ADC noted that the party did not field candidates for most of the positions contested in the by-elections, adding, “With all its flaws and irregularities, this election should not be seen as a measure of the strength or capacity of the opposition coalition, but rather as a sad reflection of how far the system has been corrupted against the will of the people.”
The party said that what Nigerians witnessed in the by-elections is yet another reminder that under the current administration, “democracy itself, just like the economy and our national security, continues to decline under President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and the APC.
“When elections are marred by widespread violence, when ballots are openly and brazenly exchanged for money, when opposition candidates are excluded without explanation, and when the very institutions entrusted to safeguard democracy become complicit, then the vote of the ordinary Nigerian ceases to have meaning.”