The Presidency and Edo State chapter of the All Progressives Congress, on Thursday, described the African Democratic Congress vice-presidential candidate, Rotimi Amaechi, as a burden on the ticket of former Vice President Atiku Abubakar over his comment that only “mad people” would vote for President Bola Tinubu in the 2027 presidential election.
Amaechi, a former governor of Rivers State, remarked on Thursday at an ADC town hall meeting in Benin, Edo State, where he urged Edo voters not to support Tinubu in next year’s election.
The meeting was attended by party leaders, candidates, supporters, and other dignitaries, where the party presented its vision for Edo State and Nigeria ahead of the 2027 elections.
He said that only thieves could canvass for votes for Tinubu, adding that “They are going about saying, ‘Vote Tinubu, vote Tinubu; only thieves will vote for Tinubu.'”
“In fact, I read on social media that it is in 2027 that we will know how many madmen we have in Nigeria because it is only a madman that can vote for Tinubu.
“If Edo people vote for Tinubu, that means Edo people are mad. If you are not mad, Tinubu should not win here.”
Reacting, the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Mr. Temitope Ajayi, in an interview with our correspondent on Thursday evening, said Amaechi, a former Rivers State governor, was “a known careless and irresponsible talker” and “not a serious politician.”
He said, “Somebody who weaponized the death of his own mother—there is no extent such a person cannot go in uttering balderdash and gibberish.
“He’s not somebody that is known to be prudent in whatever he says or in his utterances.”
The presidential aide said anyone who “can violate and desecrate the memory of his own mother cannot be taken seriously,” alleging that Amaechi did so “just to play politics.”
He also questioned Amaechi’s claim, alleging that the former governor had spent heavily on his family’s welfare and on his mother’s burial.
“A man who paid thousands of pounds for his daughter’s university education in the UK, who spent tens of millions of naira on himself, and who even spent tens of millions of naira on the same woman’s funeral is telling us that it is because of Tinubu’s policy that he couldn’t buy medication and that his mother died because he couldn’t buy medication. That was a ridiculous statement anybody could make,” he argued.
Describing the former minister’s electoral record, Ajayi challenged Amaechi’s political credentials as Director-General of former President Muhammadu Buhari’s campaign.
According to Ajayi, “He was DG of Buhari’s campaign two times, but we didn’t get 10 percent of votes in Rivers State. So he didn’t even know how Buhari won the election in 2015 and 2019. So he just kept blabbing and puffing himself up.”
