‘Buhari Promised Me APC Presidential Ticket, I Didn’t Do Deals’ —Amaechi On 2022 Defeat

The African Democratic Congress vice-presidential candidate, Rotimi Amaechi, has revealed that former President Muhammadu Buhari assured him of the All Progressives Congress presidential ticket ahead of the party’s 2022 primary but instructed him not to campaign or negotiate with delegates.

The revelation was made during an interview on Mainland 98.3FM’s The Situation Room programme in Lagos on Friday, ValidViewNetwork reports.

THE PROMISE

Amaechi was unequivocal about the role Buhari’s advice played in his defeat.

“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 said. “He told me that. He put it in writing. When I write my book, I’ll put it out.”

Amaechi said he believed Buhari’s support would give him an advantage over other aspirants, leaving him with little reason to engage in the political bargaining taking place ahead of the primary.

Amaechi acknowledged that his refusal to make deals with governors and other influential party members weakened his campaign.

“Now, I didn’t do deals. So I would have promised you vice-president, promised you SGF, and then would have gone for this primary, I would have possibly won. I would have had governors on my side,” he said. “Because I didn’t do deals, Tinubu had the chance to do deals.”

THE ALLEGATION OF RELIGIOUS MOBILISATION

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Amaechi also accused Tinubu’s supporters of using religious sentiments to mobilise delegates, particularly in the North-West.

He alleged that a delegation of Southern Yoruba Muslims approached governors in the North-West and appealed to them to support Tinubu on religious grounds.

“El-Rufai was my supporter. El-Rufai, in a viral video, said this is done for the faith,” Amaechi said. He maintained that he would not exploit religious affiliations to secure electoral support, arguing that such political strategies could worsen divisions in the country.

“I wouldn’t want to run that kind of federation. Catholics are 35 million in Nigeria. I wouldn’t want to go to the Catholic Church and say, please announce me. Tell them that all Catholics must go out and vote Amaechi. It will cause confusion. It will cause problems in the country. That makes me a nationalist,” he said.

WHY IT MATTERS

Amaechi’s revelation is a window into the behind-the-scenes manoeuvring that shaped the 2022 APC presidential primary.

If Buhari did indeed promise Amaechi the ticket in writing, it raises questions about the former president’s role in the emergence of Tinubu as the party’s candidate.

It also suggests that Amaechi’s defeat was not merely a matter of political arithmetic, but of a broken promise from the highest office in the land.

For Amaechi, the disclosure is a belated explanation for a defeat that has haunted his political career.

For Buhari, it is an allegation that he cannot respond to.

For the APC, it is a reminder that the 2022 primary was not a straightforward contest, but a complex web of promises, deals and religious mobilisation.

The book, when it is written, may reveal more. For now, Amaechi has said his piece. And the man who promised him the ticket is no longer alive to confirm or deny it. ValidViewNetwork reports.