APC, ADC Trade Barbs Over Amaechi’s Comment On Mother’s Demise

The All Progressives Congress (APC) and the African Democratic Congress Presidential Campaign Council (ADC PCC) on Sunday traded barbs over comments attributed to former Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi, on his inability to afford medication for his late mother.

Amaechi, a former two-term Speaker of the Rivers State House of Assembly, two-term Governor of Rivers State and two-term Minister, is currently the vice-presidential candidate of the ADC.

Amaechi, on a television programme, said his mother died because he could not afford her medication.

“Tinubu’s policies killed my mother. Before Tinubu came, my mother was healthy. After 2023, it was difficult for me to buy drugs for my mother,” he said.

His mother, Ezinne Amaechi, died on 16 July at the age of 89.

Reacting, however, the APC, in a statement by its National Publicity Secretary, Felix Morka, said it prayed that the soul of Dame Ezinne Mary Oduah Amaechi would continue to rest in peace.

“We also pray for excellent health of mind and body for her son, Rotimi Chibuike Amaechi… who could not afford medication for his mother’s treatment,” the party said.

The APC added that it wished employers of labour in Amaechi’s hometown of Ubima in Ikwerre Local Government Area of Rivers State would find him suitable for a job that pays wages sufficient for him to feed himself and buy medication for himself and his family.

Morka said Amaechi’s confessions must not be missed, recalling that the former minister had earlier said he had become so broke and hungry that his wife was now feeding him, and now stated that his inability to afford medication killed his mother at 89.

“For four decades, Rotimi Amaechi freeloaded at the highest levels of public office. He was never hungry and could afford medication for himself and his family. Just three years out of office, he has become destitute, unable to fend for himself and his loved ones. If Amaechi is not struggling with some kind of Peter Pan syndrome, then he must be a loafer, aimless and irresponsible for his inability to be productive and earn a living outside the patronage of public office,” the APC said.

According to the APC, Amaechi now asks Nigerians to make him vice president in 2027 to continue leeching off the public treasury.

“The presidency is not a soup kitchen, and will not be a soup kitchen for Rotimi Amaechi. There can be no better speaker on Rotimi Amaechi’s unfitness for the office of vice president than Rotimi Amaechi himself,” the statement added.

But in a swift response, the ADC PCC condemned the APC’s statement, describing it as a display of political cruelty.

In a statement signed by its Director of Strategic Communications, Phrank Shaibu, the ADC said Felix Morka’s statement is not an answer to Nigeria’s problems.

“A mother’s death and a family’s grief should never be turned into material for partisan ridicule. If Rotimi Amaechi says he struggled to afford his mother’s medication, the humane response is compassion. The political response is to ask why millions of Nigerians are also being priced out of medicines, food and basic necessities,” the ADC said.

The ADC said Morka calling Amaechi a loafer for struggling outside office says more about the APC’s contempt for ordinary people.

“Nigerians who cannot afford treatment, keep the lights on or travel safely on their roads are not loafers. They are citizens living through the consequences of a government that has failed them.

“The reality is plain: the roads are bad, the economy is bad, electricity is bad, security is bad and the welfare of the people is bad. Tinubu’s name is increasingly associated with poverty, insecurity and hardship. No amount of mockery can make those conditions disappear,” the campaign council said.

The ADC challenged Morka to explain why Nigerians face dangerous journeys on bad roads, noting that roads in the East, the region he comes from, are in a deplorable state.

“How many overturned trailers, near-collisions and desperate journeys must Nigerians endure before this government admits that the country’s roads are in crisis?” the ADC asked.

“The APC cannot boast about trillions in public spending while Nigerians lack safe roads, reliable electricity and affordable healthcare. It cannot blame one politician’s personal circumstances for hardship being felt in homes across the country. The test of government is not how viciously its spokesmen can insult their opponents. It is whether people can live safely, afford treatment and earn a decent living. On that test, Tinubu’s government has failed,” the statement said.

The ADC added that Morka owes Nigerians an explanation for the government’s record and owes Amaechi’s family the respect that grief deserves.