Adamawa ADC Candidate Urges Atiku to Stay Out of Party Matters

The Adamawa State governorship candidate of the African Democratic Congress, Alhaji Suleiman Omar, has asked former Vice President Atiku Abubakar to keep away from the party's affairs in the state.

At a press conference on Friday in Yola, Omar said Atiku's announcement of his replacement was against the law. He insisted that he is still the rightful governorship candidate of the party.

"I have read with shock the statement attributed to former Vice President and national leader of the ADC, His Excellency Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, purportedly presenting Alhaji Modibbo as the ADC gubernatorial candidate for Adamawa State."

"Ordinarily, such a post might have been dismissed as another episode of political mischief. Coming, however, from a former Vice President, a presidential candidate and national leader of our party and a man who publicly identifies himself as a democrat, it assumes a gravity that cannot be ignored."

Omar called on Atiku to withdraw the statement and avoid actions that could harm the legal process already in place. He said, "Leadership demands restraint, fairness and respect for due process, particularly from those who aspire to lead the country. The mandate belongs to the people who gave it. It cannot be appropriated by an individual."

He stressed that he is the duly elected governorship candidate of the ADC in Adamawa and cannot be replaced in an undemocratic way. "The party's governorship primary was conducted under the supervision of INEC and was witnessed by party members and the general public. I emerged victorious, while Alhaji Modibbo came second. In consequence, my name was duly submitted to INEC as the party's candidate."

Omar mentioned that he sought an injunction from the court to stop INEC from accepting any change of his name by the party or anyone else. "The relevant court processes have been duly served on INEC and the party, at both national and state levels, and I have it on good authority that the former Vice President has been formally briefed by the party of my action," he added.

He said, "Until the court determines otherwise, no individual, regardless of his position, influence or stature, has the legal or moral authority to rewrite the result of a primary election or substitute his personal preference for the expressed will of party members."

Omar warned that if party members' votes can easily be overturned after an election, it undermines democracy. "If the votes of party members can simply be overturned with fiat after an election has been conducted by those who are supposed to be the guardians of those votes, then we are not building democracy; we are replacing it with the very impunity that Nigerians have repeatedly rejected."

He urged all ADC members, supporters in Adamawa and the Nigerian public to stay calm, watchful and determined. "We shall continue to defend our mandate through lawful and democratic means and shall not allow the will of the people to be defeated by political manipulation," he stated.

Omar emphasized that "democracy means that the people choose, and that their choice must be respected. Adamawa ADC members have made their choice; it is left for our political leaders to respect it or disregard it."

When asked what he would do if he lost the ADC ticket, he replied, "I wait until the court takes its final decision, then I can decide my next move."

Last month, Alhaji Tukur Modibbo replaced Omar as the governorship candidate of the party in Adamawa State.