Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar is heading toward victory in the ongoing presidential primary of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), after emerging ahead in results announced from several states.

Atiku is contesting the party’s presidential ticket alongside former Minister of Transportation Rotimi Amaechi and economist Mohammed Hayatu-Deen ahead of the 2027 general election.

Results released at the party’s national collation centre at the Transcorp Hilton in Abuja showed Atiku opening a significant lead over his rivals.

In Kebbi State, Atiku secured 65,523 votes, defeating Amaechi who polled 5,931 votes, while Hayatu-Deen recorded 454 votes.

The former vice president also won Anambra State with 58,566 votes, ahead of Amaechi’s 17,085 votes and Hayatu-Deen’s 7,861 votes.

In Abia State, Atiku polled 25,153 votes, while Amaechi secured 18,339 votes and Hayatu-Deen garnered 2,264 votes.

Ekiti State also went in Atiku’s favour as he recorded 18,395 votes, defeating Amaechi who polled 1,574 votes, while Hayatu-Deen secured 149 votes.

However, the exercise has been overshadowed by allegations of irregularities from Atiku’s challengers.

Mohammed Hayatu-Deen announced that he would boycott the official declaration of results, alleging widespread manipulation and vote rigging.

In a post on his X account on Tuesday, the presidential aspirant said: “I will not be attending the announcement of the ADC Presidential Election Results today. I am concerned by reports from across the country of widespread vote rigging, some of which I myself observed, and will therefore be taking advice on my next steps.”

Reacting to the allegations, ADC National Publicity Secretary Bolaji Abdullahi said the party had not gathered enough evidence to either validate or dismiss the claims.

Speaking on Politics Today on Channels Television, Abdullahi said collation was still ongoing and results from several states had yet to be received.

“We don’t have any evidence to be able to support his position or to deny his position because we’ve not collated the results,” he said.

“We’ve not noticed any pattern in the result, and we’ve not seen enough to be able to establish a pattern.”

Amaechi had earlier rejected the exercise, describing the results as “concocted” and alleging widespread voter disenfranchisement.

According to him, the ADC was created to provide Nigerians with a credible political alternative and should not replicate the electoral practices it criticises in other parties.

The ADC presidential primary was monitored by officials of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), while collation of results from other states remained ongoing at press time.