Vice presidential candidate of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) Mr Rotimi Amaechi, has reflected on his recent past political antecedents, recalling the mistake he made with late former president, Muhammad Buhari.
That mistake was listening to Buhari, he recalled adding that it resulted in his losing the 2023 All Progressives Congress (APC) presidential primaries to Senator Bola Tinubu.
“The mistake I made was listening to the late President Muhammadu Buhari, who told me: ‘don’t campaign, don’t do anything; I will announce you as my candidate’.
“He even had it in writing. When he said that to me, I obeyed him because he was my boss, and if he announced such, that would have been a plus for us.
“I would have gone for the primaries and possibly won because I had the governors on my side. I didn’t do deals, Tinubu did deals, and second, Tinubu played on religion. I will never play religious politics”, Amaechi stated while in an interview on Mainland 98.3fm.
According to him, “The delegation of Southern Muslims went to see the Northern governors and told them anytime there’s an election, you people support Southern Christians, and when there’s an election in the North, we support you people, and for the sake of the faith, you need to support Tinubu. Nasir El-Rufai was my supporter.
“He once said in a viral video that this is done for the faith. Imagine how Christians felt that he wanted to prove that Muslims own Nigeria.
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“I would never run such an election. Catholics are 35 million in Nigeria. I wouldn’t want to run that kind of election. So, the Catholics tell all Catholics to go out and vote for Amaechi; by that, you would cause confusion in the country.
“I wouldn’t do anything at all cost because I want power”, former, former Rivers State governor and former Chairman of the Nigerian Governors’ Forum stated
The Eagle reports that the late Former President had last May before his passage, congratulated then Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi, on the occasion of his 60th birthday, using the opportunity to recall the latter’s support to him
In a statement by his spokesman, Garba Shehu, Buhari described Amaechi as a golden fish and an asset to his administration.
“Amaechi shared with me the aspiration of strengthening infrastructure, bridging the nation’s long-delayed gaps through the railway, a vital component, leading to its revival from a comatose state, completion of abandoned projects, turning them into major transit hubs, and initiating major ones across the country, some of which were driven to completion before he left office.
“The railway system which used to be the heartbeat of several towns and cities, killed and buried for decades opened a new chapter under his leadership, faithfully serving millions of Nigerians by increasing network capacity for passenger and freight services, helping to address demand, introducing new services and rolling stock, and improving safety.
“Under him, the nation witnessed a new era of railway infrastructure. I wish him and his family many happy years ahead,” Buhari was quoted as saying.
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