Presidential candidate of the African Democratic Congress, ADC, Dumebi Kachikwu has insisted that he will be participating in Saturday’s presidential election in spite of the crisis rocking his party. Kachikwu, in an interview with reporters, stated that he has not abandoned his presidential ambition in support of Labour party (LP) candidate Peter Obi.
According to Kachikwu, former chairman Ralph Nwosu refused to step down after the expiration of his tenure, and this created a rift within the party.
“Justice Binta Nyanko of the Federal High Court had in December 2022 ruled that the tenure of the erstwhile chairman had lapsed.
“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. 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,” he said.
Kachikwu added: “I stood by the party’s constitution. The chairman went to court, and the court ruled, they didn’t t even have any defence in court because the constitution is very clear.
“As of today, I have not one agent in an election that is held in a few days.
“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.”
