Former Rivers State Governor and Vice-Presidential Candidate of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), Rotimi Amaechi, has warned party leaders that they risk being pushed out of active politics if President Bola Tinubu wins the 2027 presidential election
Amaechi therefore urged ADC leaders and supporters, particularly women, to return to their states and wards and begin aggressive grassroots mobilization ahead of the election.
He spoke on Wednesday at the ADC National Women League Conference in Abuja.
According to him, the party must secure strong support at the ward level if it hopes to defeat the All Progressives Congress (APC) in 2027.
Amaechi said, “If you are not from FCT, go home and campaign. Me, I am going on Wednesday, I will not wear suit, I will dress like a young man.
“Let me tell you what will happen. We the crop of leaders you see here, if APC wins the 2027 elections, we are retired from politics. So if you don’t want us to retire from politics, we must go home.
“If you bring two thousand votes per ward, don’t win your ward. Just bring two thousand votes, we have won the election.
“Men are controlled by their wives. Don’t let your husbands sleep, because if we win, you have won. We will not take any election lightly.
“You will see me in Kebbi, Yola, Rivers, Delta fighting for the governorship elections, because the presidential candidate cannot govern without the governors.”
The former Minister of Transportation also recalled how the APC defeated the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the 2015 election, saying women played a major role in the campaign.
Amaechi said APC leaders at the time mobilized women across the states and encouraged them to come out and vote.
“When we were in APC and we wanted to remove your government, you saw what we did. We brought out the women. In every state we went to, women were in front.
“We spoke to them, we met with them at night, and we made sure that we told them that if they did not come out to vote, we would not win. And they came out. We fought the war, and we won,” he said.
Amaechi also spoke about the rising cost of living and the number of Nigerians he said are living in poverty.
He claimed that the number of out-of-school children in the country had increased from about 10 to 12 million when he left government to about 20 million currently.
He said the development had affected northern Nigeria more severely, urging women in the region to participate actively in the 2027 election.
“If you’re a northerner and you’re sitting here, you shouldn’t even be singing at all. Tinubu is taking you more every day into poverty.
“The thing you need to do is to take the battle into your hands. If all the women in the North come out to vote, Tinubu cannot announce any result,” Amaechi said.
Also speaking at the event, Hajiya Titi Atiku Abubakar urged ADC women to work for what she described as the betterment of Nigeria and not allow themselves to be intimidated.
She asked them to persuade their friends, neighbours and other voters to support the ADC.
Titi Atiku also spoke about the rising cost of medicines and other basic goods, giving an example of a medicine she said had increased from ₦400 to ₦1,000.
“If you go to the market, you cannot buy anything, even medicine. Yesterday I sent them to buy medicine for me. Medicine that we used to buy for ₦400 is now ₦1,000. I couldn’t believe my eyes.
“So where is the money? And we are in a cashless society, that even all the monies are being taken away,” she said.
She further alleged that some contractors were being denied payments because of their support for the ADC.
According to her, many Nigerian children are out of school because of the high cost of living.
She therefore urged women to take the ADC campaign to communities and villages across the country.
“Most of our children are not in schools because the cost of living is so expensive. So, women, I implore you. Women, I beg you. Don’t let them come and buy you with food.
“And we have to go to all the corners of this Nigeria, especially to the people in villages,” she said.
