The vice-presidential candidate of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), Rotimi Amaechi, has attributed his defeat in the 2022 All Progressives Congress (APC) presidential primary to his decision to follow the late President Muhammadu Buhari’s advice not to campaign.
Naija News reports that Amaechi said Buhari had assured him in writing that he would name him as his preferred successor, which made him refrain from lobbying delegates or striking deals ahead of the contest.
He spoke on Friday during an interview on Mainland 98.3FM’s The Situation Room in Lagos.
The former Minister of Transportation said he trusted Buhari’s word because the former President was his boss.
“The first mistake that I made at that primary was that I listened to President Buhari. He said to me, ‘Don’t campaign. Don’t do anything. I will announce you as my candidate.’
“He told me that. He put it in writing. When I write my book, I’ll put it out,” he said.
Amaechi said his refusal to negotiate positions with governors and other party leaders also worked against him, giving President Bola Tinubu the opportunity to build alliances.
“Now, I didn’t do deals. So I would have promised you vice-president, promised you SGF, and then would have gone for this primary, I would have possibly won. I would have had governors on my side.
“Because I didn’t do deals, Tinubu had the chance to do deals,” he said.
The former Rivers State governor also accused Tinubu of exploiting religion to win the support of delegates, particularly in the North.
He alleged that a delegation of Yoruba Muslims approached governors in the North-West and urged them to back Tinubu on religious grounds.
He cited former Kaduna State Governor, Nasir El-Rufai, who he said initially supported him but later backed Tinubu.
“El-Rufai was my supporter. El-Rufai, in a viral video, said this is done for the faith,” he said.
Amaechi said he would never use religion as a political tool, describing such a strategy as divisive.
“I wouldn’t want to run that kind of federation. Catholics are 35 million in Nigeria. I wouldn’t want to go to the Catholic Church and say, please announce me. Tell them that all Catholics must go out and vote Amaechi.
“It will cause confusion. It will cause problems in the country. That makes me a nationalist,” he said.
He also questioned the perception of Tinubu as a master strategist, asking why he had not become President earlier if he was so politically skilful.
Tinubu won the APC presidential primary held at Eagle Square, Abuja, in June 2022 with 1,271 votes, while Amaechi came second with 316 votes.
Tinubu went on to win the 2023 presidential election.
Amaechi, who was Director-General of Buhari’s 2015 presidential campaign and later served as his transport minister, is now the running mate to Atiku Abubakar on the ADC ticket for 2027.
Join the conversation
Comments
Want to discuss? Please read our Commenting Policy first.