APC Fires Back at Amaechi, Says Presidency Is Not a ‘Soup Kitchen’

The All Progressives Congress has launched a blistering attack on former Rivers State governor Rotimi Amaechi after he said rising medicine costs under President Bola Tinubu’s administration made it increasingly difficult for his family to care for his late mother.

Amaechi, who is now the African Democratic Congress vice-presidential candidate for the 2027 election, made the claim during an interview on Channels Television’s Politics Today.

He said his mother, whom he described as healthy before Tinubu assumed office, became increasingly difficult to care for as the cost of medicines rose. His mother, Dame Ezinne Mary Oduah Amaechi, died on July 16, 2026, at the age of 89.

The APC responded on Sunday through its National Publicity Secretary, Felix Morka.

APC turns personal claim into political attackRather than directly addressing the economic argument about medicine prices, the ruling party questioned Amaechi’s ability to sustain himself outside political office.

The party recalled his previous comments about financial difficulties after leaving government and accused him of depending on public office.

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Morka described Amaechi as a “loafer, aimless and irresponsible” for allegedly being unable to earn a living outside the patronage of public office.

Amaechi has served as Speaker of the Rivers State House of Assembly, governor of Rivers State and Minister of Transportation. He also contested the APC presidential primary before leaving the party and subsequently becoming the ADC’s vice-presidential candidate.

ValidViewNetwork reports, the APC’s response has therefore shifted the conversation from the cost of healthcare to Amaechi’s personal finances and political suitability.

The party argued that his current financial complaints contradicted his decades in senior public office and suggested that his bid for the vice-presidency was an attempt to return to political power.

ADC FIRES BACK

Amaechi’s political camp has rejected the attack. The ADC Presidential Campaign Council accused the APC of turning the death of a family member into partisan ridicule and argued that the larger issue raised by Amaechi was the affordability of healthcare.

Phrank Shaibu, the council’s Director of Strategic Communications, said the APC’s response failed to address the wider hardship faced by Nigerians who struggle to afford medicine, food and other necessities.

The disagreement is now becoming part of the broader 2027 political contest.

THE BIGGER ISSUE

Amaechi’s claim that Tinubu’s policies contributed to his mother’s death is a political assertion, not a medical finding that has been independently established.

Likewise, the APC’s accusation that Amaechi is incapable of surviving outside public office is a political attack, not an objective assessment of his ability to earn income.

ValidViewNetwork reports, the substantive issue for voters is therefore not the insult traded between the parties but whether the competing claims about economic hardship, healthcare costs and political performance can be supported by evidence.

Personal grief should command sensitivity, even in political campaigns. At the same time, claims about government policy and its consequences should be subjected to evidence rather than accepted simply because they come from a politician.