2027: ADC won’t accept rigging — David Mark

The National Chairman of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), Senator David Mark, has said that the party will not accept rigging in the forthcoming elections.

Mark stated this on Wednesday during a courtesy visit by the Governing Council of the Savannah Centre for Diplomacy, Democracy and Development to the party’s headquarters in Abuja.

The delegation was led by the former Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Olukayode Ariwoola, who said the visit was part of the Centre’s ongoing stakeholder engagements with political parties and political leaders ahead of the 2027 general elections.

Ariwoola expressed the Centre’s commitment to promoting free, fair and credible elections and urged the ADC leadership to encourage its candidates and members to comply with the rules of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and eschew all forms of political violence.

Responding, Mark said the ADC was committed to playing by the rules.

“We are committed to playing politics in a manner that promotes public confidence in democracy,” he said.

He said the party would comply with INEC’s guidelines, as well as the ADC’s code of conduct contained in its Orange Book, but would not accept rigging.

“We hold ourselves to the highest standards of good conduct as a political party. We will play by the rules. But we will not accept rigging or allow ourselves to be rigged out,” Mark said.

Members of the Savannah Centre Governing Council, also known as the “Council of the Wise”, who were part of the entourage included Prof. Abdullahi Shehu, Prof. Azeez Musa Dankano, Executive Director Ambassador Sani Bala, Mr Tunji Lardner and Ambassador Godswill Ighali, among others.