The Vice Presidential candidate of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), Rotimi Amaechi, has blamed his 2022 defeat in the All Progressives Congress (APC) presidential primary on his decision to heed the advice of late President Muhammadu Buhari and refrain from campaigning before the contest.
Amaechi, a two-term governor of Rivers State, said Buhari had assured him in writing that he would name him as his preferred candidate.
According to him, the assurance led him to avoid lobbying delegates and negotiating political alliances ahead of the primary.
Amaechi made this disclosure during an interview on Mainland 98.3FM’s ‘The Situation Room’ in Lagos on Friday, where he reflected on how President Bola Tinubu defeated him to win the APC presidential ticket in 2022.
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Amaechi said he had considered Buhari’s position credible because the former president was his boss, and believed an endorsement would give him an advantage over other aspirants.
“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,” he said.
The former Minister of Transportation said his decision not to negotiate political positions with governors and other influential party members also undermined his bid, allowing Tinubu to build alliances ahead of the primary.
Amaechi said he could have sought governors’ support by offering political appointments, including the vice-presidency and the position of Secretary to the Government of the Federation.
“Now, I didn’t do deals. So I would have promised you vice-presidency, 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.
