Presidency: ADC Screens Atiku, Hayatu-Deen, Amaechi

Ahead of the 2027 Presidential election, the Presidential Screening Committee of the African Democratic Congress, ADC has screened three of its Presidential aspirants.

Those screened at the Transcorp Hilton, Abuja, on Wednesday were former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, Economist and former Banker, Muhammed Hayatu-Deen and former Rivers State Governor, Rotimi Amaechi.

First to appear before the committee led by former Cross River State Governor, Liyel Imoke, was Hayatu-Deen.

Addressing journalists after the exercise, Hayatu-Deen expressed confidence in the ADC as the most credible political platform capable of defeating the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) and offering Nigerians a serious alternative built on competence, credibility, and solutions-driven leadership.

The former Chairman of the Nigeria Economic Summit Group said Nigeria can no longer afford politics without direction, especially at a time when millions of citizens are struggling under worsening economic hardship, rising insecurity, and unemployment.

“We cannot continue to normalise poverty, fear, and hopelessness as the national condition,” he said. “This election must be about the future of Nigerian families, about whether people can afford food, whether young people can find jobs, whether farmers can safely return to their farms, and whether businesses can survive and grow again.”

He further noted that the ADC presents a unique opportunity to build a broad national coalition around competence, unity, and economic renewal, adding that the country requires leadership with both the capacity and urgency to confront its current challenges.

Meanwhile, Atiku Abubakar in a statement after the screening brought out his economic rescue blueprint and security action plan for a “nation bleeding from economic distress and escalating insecurity.”

A statement by Atiku’s Senior Special Assistant on Public Communication, Phrank Shaibu described the engagement as far more than a routine party process, saying it was an opportunity to present a practical and urgent pathway for rescuing Nigeria from the grip of economic stagnation, mass unemployment, institutional drift, and the horrifying insecurity that has left innocent citizens vulnerable to massacres, kidnappings, and terror attacks.

He stated that Nigeria could not continue on the current trajectory where families struggle daily under crushing hardship, businesses collapse under policy uncertainty, and investor confidence continues to erode in the absence of coherent economic leadership.

He stressed that his economic blueprint is anchored on job creation, private sector expansion, fiscal discipline, stable macroeconomic management, and a renewed commitment to restoring Nigeria as a destination for serious investment and sustainable growth.

On security, Atiku expressed grave concern over the relentless bloodshed across the country, noting that no responsible government can stand by while citizens are slaughtered in their communities and others abducted on highways, farms, and even in their homes.

He said his security plan would prioritise intelligence-led operations, stronger inter-agency coordination, decentralised security architecture, and the political will to confront criminality without hesitation.

Addressing journalists, Rotimi Amaechi insisted that he did not buy the nomination and expression of interest forms to be anybody’s deputy, adding that his tenure as Governor will campaign for him during the election.

He also blamed the failure of the system and youth unemployment as part of the contributory factors to the insecurity, promising to deal with the menace.

On the issue of consensus, he said if he was part of the process, he would accept the outcome.

“You said the party. I’m a member of the party. But, So if that’s the party’s decision, then once it’s a process that all of us participate in, then why not?”(daily trust)