The African Democratic Congress (ADC) has appealed to Nigerians not to assess the party’s strength based on the outcome of the recent by-elections conducted across 16 constituencies.
The elections, held on Saturday, August 16, to replace lawmakers who died or resigned after the 2023 general elections, saw the ADC fail to win any seat. The ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) secured 12 out of the 16 seats across nine states, while the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) won two seats in Anambra, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) clinched one seat in Oyo, and the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP) took one seat in Kano.
Speaking on Channels Television’s Politics Today on Wednesday, ADC spokesman Bolaji Abdullahi attributed the poor performance to the timing of the polls and the party’s state of preparedness.
“For us, the election happened less than a month after we came into the party. Most of the candidates, we didn’t even know, and that’s why we said we cannot judge the ADC by that,” Abdullahi said.
He explained that the party was still undergoing leadership transition when the by-elections were conducted.
“The by-election happened too early in terms of transition for the party. So, we don’t want to be judged by the outcome of that election; there are other elections coming, and we will be ready for those,” he added.