The African Democratic Congress (ADC) has dismissed concerns over the continued silence of former Rivers State governor, Rotimi Amaechi, following the party’s announcement naming him as the running mate to its 2027 presidential candidate, former Vice President Atiku Abubakar.

Speaking on Trust TV’s Daily Politics on last night, the party’s National Publicity Secretary, Bolaji Abdullahi, insisted there was no crisis within the party and questioned why Amaechi was expected to publicly accept the nomination.

Abdullahi was responding to questions on growing speculation and disquiet among some party supporters over Amaechi’s failure to personally confirm acceptance of the vice-presidential slot since the party made the announcement.

“What do you want to hear? That he has accepted?” Abdullahi rhetorically asked.

“Did he have a duty to announce that he has accepted? Because you should expect that conversation took place that led to that announcement by the party.”

The ADC spokesman argued that political parties, not candidates, formally announce such decisions and maintained that the process leading to Amaechi’s emergence had been duly followed.

“What more do you expect from the candidate? For him to come out and say, ‘Oh, my party has nominated me as running mate, I hereby accept’? When is it ever done?” he said.

According to him, the absence of a public statement from Amaechi should not be interpreted as disagreement or uncertainty.

“The party has taken a position, the party has announced. Did you hear anybody come out to say, ‘No, it’s not true, I’m not the running mate’? The party has announced that our running mate in 2027 is His Excellency Rotimi Amaechi,” he said.

Pressed on whether Amaechi personally consented before the announcement was made, Abdullahi declined to provide details of internal consultations but insisted that due process was followed.

“The party took a decision and there was a process for arriving at that decision,” he said.

He added that both Atiku and Amaechi would be formally presented to Nigerians at the appropriate time.

“At the appropriate date, we are going to unveil the two of them. We have ample time. The campaign has not even started. We have not even formally unveiled our candidates,” he stated.

Abdullahi also used the opportunity to project the ADC as a party driven by institutional processes rather than individual personalities.

“We are trying to build a political party where the party is supreme,” he said, adding that the ADC remained proud of conducting what he described as the only nationwide internal election involving members across the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory.

“We are the only political party that actually conducted a nationwide election among our members. We are the only political party that did that,” he added. (Daily Trust)

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