African Democratic Congress (ADC) vice-presidential candidate Rotimi Amaechi says his decision to follow the late President Muhammadu Buhari’s advice not to campaign cost him the All Progressives Congress presidential ticket in 2022.
Amaechi said Buhari had assured him in writing that he would name him as his preferred candidate. He said the assurance led him to avoid lobbying delegates and negotiating alliances ahead of the primary.
He made the comments during an interview on Mainland 98.3FM’s The Situation Room in Lagos on Friday, as he reflected on his defeat by Bola Tinubu in the 2022 APC presidential primary.
“The first mistake I made at that primary was listening 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,” Amaechi said.
The former transport minister said his refusal to negotiate political positions with governors and other influential party members also weakened his campaign, while giving Tinubu an opportunity to build alliances.
Amaechi said he could have sought governors’ support by offering political appointments, including the positions of vice-president and secretary to the government of the federation.
“I didn’t do deals. I could have promised you vice-president, promised you SGF, and then gone into the primary. I would possibly have won. I would have had governors on my side.
“Because I didn’t do deals, Tinubu had the chance to do deals,” he said.
Amaechi also accused Tinubu of appealing to religious sentiment to win support from delegates, particularly in the North. He said he would not use religion as a political tool, describing his position as an expression of his nationalist beliefs.
He alleged that a delegation of Yoruba Muslims from the South had approached governors in the North-West and urged them to support Tinubu on religious grounds. Amaechi also referred to former Kaduna State Governor Nasir El-Rufai, whom he said had initially supported his presidential bid before backing Tinubu.
“El-Rufai was my supporter. El-Rufai, in a viral video, said this is done for the faith,” Amaechi said.
He argued that campaigning on religious identity could deepen divisions in the country.
“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.
Amaechi also questioned the view of Tinubu as an exceptionally strategic politician, asking why he had not become president earlier if his success rested on unusual political manoeuvring.
Tinubu won the APC presidential primary at Eagle Square in Abuja in June 2022, securing 1,271 votes to Amaechi’s 316. He went on to become the party’s candidate in the 2023 presidential election, which he won.
Amaechi served as transport minister under Buhari and was a political ally of the former president. He also directed Buhari’s successful 2015 presidential campaign.
Amaechi is now running as Atiku Abubakar’s vice-presidential candidate on the ADC ticket for the 2027 presidential election.
