Concluded by-elections dress rehearsal for 2027 – ADC, says democracy declining under Tinubu

•Tinubu and ADC logo

The African Democratic Con­gress (ADC) has said that the by-elections held on Saturday, 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), reports Daily Independent.

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 yesterday 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.”

The party disclosed that in some states, nearly 300 thugs armed with rifles, knives, and cutlasses were arrested on election day, asking “is this democra­cy—or banditry disguised as voting?

“In some states, whole polling units were can­celled due to ballot box snatching and the open intimidation of voters. If citizens cannot go to the polls without fear of assault, then the most ba­sic covenant between the state and its people has already broken down.

“In one state, a vote-buy­er was caught with N25.9 million intended to pro­cure and corrupt the will of the people. In another, election officials were themselves implicated in similar inducements. This is no longer isolated mal­practice; it is fast becom­ing the political culture of our electoral process under the APC,” ADC said.

The party further stated that “after so many years, the failure of the Bimodal Voter Accreditation Sys­tem (BVAS) in some states has once again raised questions about the com­mission’s competence, sin­cerity, and perhaps, com­plicity. Nigerians deserve elections that command the implicit confidence of every citizen and respect of the rest of the world. INEC must not be allowed to turn excuses to a code of conduct.

“The bigger picture that we must all remember is that for better or worse, these by-elections repre­sent the clearest indica­tion of a dress rehearsal for 2027. If violence, vote buying, candidate intimi­dation and exclusion, and collusion between securi­ty forces and compromised election officials become the new normal, then Ni­gerians and the interna­tional community must brace themselves.”

The ADC, therefore, called on President Tinu­bu to rise above his parti­san interest and for once, demonstrate genuine lead­ership by ensuring that Nigerians can cast their votes freely and safely.

“The president must recognise that no govern­ment can claim legitimacy if it consistently presides over elections that citizens and the international com­munity perceive as fraud­ulent,” the party said.

ADC called on INEC to immediately investigate the brazen and reckless irregularities that have been revealed and report­ed, sanction all compro­mised officials, and take the urgent and necessary steps to restore public confidence in the nation’s electoral process.

“If INEC cannot guar­antee the integrity of a by-election, then Nigeri­ans are right to question its institutional capacity and all-round readiness for a general election,” the party said.

The ADC has also called on the international com­munity, especially Nige­ria’s democratic partners and election observers, not to look away, adding that silence in the face of such brazen subversion of democratic norms will only embolden those who profit from this chaos.

“Nigeria is too import­ant to Africa and the world to allow its democracy to collapse under the weight of complicit impunity,” ADC said.

The party urged civil society, the media, faith leaders, and indeed every Nigerian who believes in freedom to resist the slide into electoral banditry, adding, “If we do not de­fend the sanctity of the ballot today, there may be nothing left to defend to­morrow.”

The ADC noted the re­cent declaration of both the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the APC as terrorist organisations by a Canadian court.

“This must have come as great embarrassment to all citizens. But evidence of this by-election makes it difficult to plead their case,” the party said.