Amaechi: Buhari Deceived Me Over 2022 APC Presidential Ticket

The vice-presidential candidate of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), Rotimi Amaechi, has accused the late former President Muhammadu Buhari of misleading him ahead of the All Progressives Congress (APC) presidential primary in 2022.

Amaechi said he lost the opportunity to secure the APC presidential ticket because he relied on Buhari’s assurance that he would be announced as his preferred candidate.

The former Rivers State governor disclosed this during an interview on Mainland 98.3FM’s The Situation Room programme in Lagos on Friday.

According to him, Buhari had advised him against campaigning for the party’s presidential ticket, assuring him that he would personally announce him as his preferred candidate.

Amaechi said the former president also put the assurance in writing, a development he said influenced his decision not to lobby delegates or negotiate political alliances ahead of the primary.

He said, “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.”

Amaechi, who served as Minister of Transportation under Buhari, said his decision not to negotiate with governors and other influential party stakeholders also affected his chances at the primary.

He explained that he could have secured the support of some governors by making political commitments, including offering them positions such as vice-president and Secretary to the Government of the Federation.

“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.

Amaechi also accused President Bola Tinubu of exploiting religious sentiments to secure support from delegates, particularly in the North.

He, however, said he would not deploy religion as a political instrument to secure electoral support, insisting that doing so could deepen divisions in the country.

The former minister recalled that some Southern Yoruba Muslim leaders allegedly approached governors in the North-West to solicit support for Tinubu on religious grounds.

Amaechi also referenced former Kaduna State Governor Nasir El-Rufai, whom he said had initially supported his presidential ambition before eventually backing Tinubu.

Tinubu defeated Amaechi and other aspirants at the APC presidential primary held at Eagle Square, Abuja, in June 2022, polling 1,271 votes against Amaechi’s 316 votes.

The outcome secured Tinubu the party’s ticket for the 2023 presidential election, which he subsequently won.

Amaechi, who served as Director-General of Buhari’s 2015 presidential campaign, is currently the running mate to former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar on the ADC platform ahead of the 2027 presidential election.