Concluded By-Elections Dress Rehearsal For 2027, ADC Laments

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.”