The presidential candidate of the Action Democratic Congress (ADC), Dumebi Kachikwu, says he is still in the 2023 election, despite his party’s endorsement of the Labour Party’s Peter Obi.
Kachikwu told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) Forum in Abuja that he fell out with the party over a leadership crisis.
He blamed the crisis on the refusal of the ADC’s former chairman to vacate after his tenure expired.
“Justice Binta Nyanko of the Federal High Court had in December 2022 ruled that the tenure of the erstwhile chairman had lapsed,” he said at the forum.
“He had been there close to 17 years and it is that kind of party where every four years they bring people like me to the party, and a few days to the election they will announce an alignment.
“When it became clear to the people that I wanted to run an election, they started fighting me,” he added.
“Unfortunately, while the man was fighting me, he forgot his tenure had lapsed.
“I told him that his tenure had lapsed. I said to him I’m not running because I’m an Igbo man. I don’t believe in all of these things. I believe the only way Nigeria can work is if we look at Nigeria as a nation for everybody.”
Kachikwu vowed to stay in the presidential race despite not having any party agent.
“I’m still in the race, I will stay in the race till the very end because there are people who will come after me who must understand that doing the right thing is costly to you but it is the best thing to do,” he said.
