Amaechi blames Buhari for 2022 APC primary loss

The African Democratic Congress vice-presidential candidate, Rotimi Amaechi, has said that losing in the 2022 All Progressives Congress presidential primary was due to his choice to listen to the late President Muhammadu Buhari. Buhari advised him not to campaign before the election.

Amaechi revealed that Buhari promised him in writing that he would name him as his preferred candidate. Because of this, he did not lobby delegates or form political alliances before the primary.

He shared this during an interview on Mainland 98.3FM’s The Situation Room programme in Lagos on Friday. He was looking back on how President Bola Tinubu beat him to win the APC presidential ticket in 2022.

Amaechi believed Buhari’s promise because the former president was his boss. He thought that Buhari's support would give him an edge over other candidates. 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.” The former Minister of Transportation added that not trying to negotiate political positions with governors and other influential party members hurt his chances. This allowed Tinubu to build his own alliances before the primary.

Amaechi noted that he could have gained support from governors by offering them political roles, like vice-president or Secretary to the Government of the Federation. He said, “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 added. Amaechi, who also ran for president in the 2022 APC primary, accused Tinubu of using religion to gain support from delegates, especially in the North.

He stated that he would not use religion as a political tool to win elections, saying this reflects his nationalist beliefs. Amaechi claimed that a group of Southern Yoruba Muslims had approached governors in the North-West to ask for their support for Tinubu based on religion.

He also mentioned former Kaduna State Governor Nasir El-Rufai, who backed his presidential ambition before switching to support Tinubu. “El-Rufai was my supporter. El-Rufai, in a viral video, said this is done for the faith,” Amaechi said.

Amaechi argued that using religion for political backing might create more divisions in Nigeria. He added that he wouldn’t encourage this approach, even if it could help him win. “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 why people see Tinubu as such a smart politician. He asked why Tinubu had not become president sooner if he was really that good at politics.

Tinubu beat Amaechi and other candidates at the APC presidential primary held at Eagle Square, Abuja, in June 2022, receiving 1,271 votes compared to Amaechi’s 316. This win set the stage for Tinubu to be the APC candidate in the 2023 presidential election, which he won.

Amaechi, who served as Minister of Transportation under Buhari, had been a close ally of the former president. He also directed Buhari's successful campaign in 2015. Now, he is the running mate to former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar on the ADC ticket for the 2027 presidential election.