Ensure Tinubu Is Not Re-elected, Or We Are Retired From Politics— Amaechi To ADC Leaders

The vice-presidential candidate of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) and former governor of Rivers State, Rotimi Amaechi, has charged party leaders to work in their various states to ensure President Bola Tinubu is not re-elected in 2027.

Amaechi said many of them would be retired from politics if Tinubu wins a second term.

Speaking at the ADC National Women League Conference in Abuja on Wednesday, Amaechi cited how the All Progressives Congress (APC) defeated the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in 2015.

He charged the women to go to their states and wards to mobilise votes, saying that is the only way the ADC can defeat the APC.

He said:

“If you are not from the 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.

“IIf 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, a former Minister of Transportation, said the APC used women to defeat 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.

“That time, Nigeria was not as hungry as it is now. Now, how many of you can afford the food? How many of you can pay school fees without texting Dino (Senator Dino Melaye) or somebody else to give you money for school fees?

“Every week, 10 Nigerians move into poverty. 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 children. That means every day Tinubu is taking 20 million Nigerians, 80 percent from the North, into poverty.

“If you’re a northerner and you’re sitting here, you shouldn’t even be singing at all. If all the women in the North come out to vote, Tinubu cannot announce any result.”

Also speaking, Hajiya Titi Atiku Abubakar said the time had come to work for the betterment of Nigeria and charged women not to be intimidated.

She urged them to convince their friends, neighbours and others to vote for the ADC.

“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 N400 is now N1,000. I couldn’t believe my eyes. Where is the money?

“People work, 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.

“Most of our children are not in school because the cost of living is so expensive. So, women, I implore you. I beg you. Don’t let them come and buy you with food. We have to go to all corners of this Nigeria, especially to the people in villages,” she said.