Former Vice President Abubakar Atiku on Thursday submitted his presidential nomination and expression of interest forms at the national secretariat of African Democratic Congress (ADC) in Abuja.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that a former Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi, had earlier in the day submitted his own forms.
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The development brings the number of presidential aspirants jostling for the ADC ticket to three.
The presidential aspirants, namely Atiku, Mr Amaechi, and Mohammed Hayatu-Deen, were accompanied by their teeming supporters to the ADC national secretariat.
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Their presence caused traffic gridlock in and around the party secretariat on Ademola Adetokunbo Street, Wuse 2, Abuja.
NAN reports that a former Minister of Justice and Attorney-General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami, also submitted his nomination form for Kebbi governorship.
The duo of Atiku and Mr Malami did not, however, grant media interviews or make public speeches before leaving the secretariat.
Similarly, the senator representing FCT, Ireti Kingibe, submitted her form seeking re-election to the Senate.
Speaking with journalists shortly after submitting his form, Mr Amaechi urged Nigerians to elect leaders based on merit, competence and proven performance.
The former Rivers governor said Nigerians should assess presidential aspirants based on their public service records and capacity to provide effective leadership.
“What Nigerians are seeing today is that nearly everybody running for president has served Nigeria in one way or the other.
“Let it be a referendum on performance. Whoever has outperformed others should earn the people’s votes,” he said.
The presidential hopeful also said that leadership selection should be based on competence, electoral strength and experience rather than sentiment or identity politics.
“I believe I am the most experienced. I am young and I have the capacity to turn this country around,” he stated.
Mr Amaechi urged Nigerians to evaluate his records as Rivers governor and minister of transportation as evidence of governance capacity.
“Go back to Rivers State and see what I did. Go back to the Ministry of Transportation and assess my performance,” he said.
The former minister noted that Nigeria’s challenges required leadership beyond ethnic, regional or religious considerations, stressing that citizens were united by hardship.
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“Nigerians should vote for merit, not for ethnicity, religion or slogans because that mentality has failed us,” he said.
He lamented the current economic situation,saying “There is no market for Christians, neither is there a market for Muslims or a market for northerners or southerners.”
On the ADC presidential primaries, Mr Amaechi expressed preference for direct primaries, adding, however, that he would accept consensus if party members chose him.
“I am going for direct primaries. If consensus favours me, fine. But if not, I am prepared for primaries,” he said.
(NAN)
