The former Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi, has stated that former Vice President Atiku Abubakar may only receive support for his 2027 presidential bid from the north.
He stated this during an interview on Friday while reacting to a recent comment by Atiku, who insinuated that he has not been duly represented in the nation’s leadership.
He argued that if the former Vice President says his only qualification to contest the 2027 presidential election is that he is a northerner, then only those in the region may vote for him.
Amaechi warned against those playing the regional and ethnic card, stressing that other factors are more important in determining who leads the country.
He said, “If Atiku Abubakar is saying that the only qualification he has is because he is from the north, then it means that on the election day, the North will vote for him and the South will not vote for him, that is what it means.
“For me, it does not matter whether you are from the North or South. There are other factors that play important roles.”
Meanwhile, Amaechi has described all presidential aspirants in the African Democratic Congress (ADC) as regional candidates.
PrimeTimes Nigeria reports that former presidential candidates, Peter Obi and Atiku Abubakar, including Amaechi, are all aspiring to emerge as the ADC flagbearer for the 2027 presidential election.
Speaking ahead of the party’s presidential primary, the former Minister of Transportation, during an interview with Channels Television, asserted that he is the only aspirant in the party not pursuing regional interests.
Amaechi emphasised that the use of region and ethnicity to determine who rules Nigeria contributed to the country’s current ordeal, citing the case of President Bola Tinubu and supporters of the Muslim-Muslim ticket.
He said, “It is within the right of the former vice president to say that he wants to run, nobody is stopping him. But he has to also understand that there are other factors beyond where he comes from.
“They are all regional candidates, but I am not a regional candidate. I’m not running because I’m Igbo, even though I’m partially one.
“I have said to Nigerians, leave region and ethnicity alone. That’s what put us here. Those who supported President Tinubu were pursuing a religious agenda. They were so happy about the Muslim-Muslim ticket.
“Today, they have discovered that the market does not know Muslims or Christians. The market only understands naira and kobo, no other language.”