APC Primary Was Rigged, I Did Not Score 16 Votes — Bashir Ahmad

Bashir Ahmad, National Director of Media Monitoring and Rapid Response of the City Boy Movement, has rejected claims that he secured only 16 votes during the All Progressives Congress House of Representatives primary election in 2022.

The controversy resurfaced on Thursday after Afrobeat singer David Adeleke, popularly known as Davido, referred to the reported result while mocking the APC chieftain in a post that went viral on social media.

Responding to the claim on Friday, Ahmad said the figure being circulated did not represent the outcome of a credible election. He maintained that the primary was not conducted transparently and alleged that the process was manipulated.

Ahmad made the clarification in a post on his official X account, where he said there was sufficient evidence to support his claim that the primary was rigged.

According to him, videos and other materials from the period could be used to demonstrate what happened during the exercise. He argued that if the primary had been conducted fairly, he was confident that he would have emerged as the winner of the party’s ticket.

The City Boy Movement spokesperson therefore urged Davido, his supporters and others discussing the matter to stop presenting the 16-vote figure as an established result from a legitimate primary election.

Ahmad said the figures being circulated were based on what he described as a disputed exercise and should not be treated as an accurate reflection of his performance in a properly conducted party election.

He also maintained that the circumstances surrounding the 2022 primary would eventually become clearer, saying he would provide more details when the time was right.

The dispute has brought renewed attention to Ahmad’s unsuccessful attempt to secure the APC ticket during the 2022 House of Representatives primary, with the issue now being discussed again following Davido’s recent comments.

Ahmad, however, insisted that the matter should not be reduced to the claim that he received 16 votes, stressing that the credibility of the primary itself was the main issue in dispute.