Vice-Presidential candidate of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), Rotimi Amaechi, has warned opposition leaders that a victory for the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the 2027 presidential election could push many of them out of active politics.
Amaechi, a former Rivers State governor and Minister of Transportation, spoke on Wednesday at the ADC National Women League Conference in Abuja, where he urged party members, particularly women, to intensify grassroots mobilisation ahead of the election.
Recalling how the APC defeated the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in 2015, he challenged ADC women to return to their states and wards to mobilise support for the party.
He 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 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.”
Amaechi said women were central to the APC’s successful mobilisation strategy against the PDP in 2015.
“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.
He also criticised the economic situation, citing the rising cost of food and education, and questioned how many Nigerians could still afford basic necessities.
“That time, Nigeria was not as hungry as it is now. Nigeria could afford some food, right? Now, how many of you can afford the food? How many of you can pay school fees without texting, texting to Dino (Senator Dino Melaye) or somebody else to give you some money for school fees,” he said.
Amaechi further claimed that the number of out-of-school children had risen from between 10 million and 12 million when he left government to 20 million, attributing the increase to the current administration.
“Every week, 10 Nigerians move into poverty. If they tell you how many Nigerians have died, you’ll be shocked. By the time I left government in APC, I’m giving you figures now: 10 and 12 million out of school children. Today there are 20 million out of school. That means every day Tinubu is taking Nigerians, 20 million Nigerians, 80% from the north, into poverty,” he said.
He urged northern women to participate actively in the 2027 election, saying: “If you’re a northerner and you’re sitting here, you shouldn’t even be singing at all. Reason Tinubu is taking you more every day into poverty. The thing you need to do is to take the battle in your hands. If all the women in the north come out to vote, Tinubu cannot announce any result.”
Also speaking, Hajiya Titi Atiku Abubakar urged women to work towards what she described as the betterment of Nigeria and not allow themselves to be intimidated.
She encouraged them to engage friends, neighbours and other voters, citing rising prices of food and medicines as major concerns.
“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. It is now a thousand. 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.
Titi also alleged that some contractors were being denied payments because of their association with the ADC.
“People work, the contractors work, they refuse to give them money. Because of ADC, because they don’t want people to support us. We, ADC, don’t have money. Let me tell you, we have to get it by force. We have to get it,” she said.
She further cited the rising cost of living as a factor affecting school attendance and urged women to take the ADC’s campaign to communities across the country, particularly rural areas.
