Buhari promised me 2022 APC ticket, says Amaechi

Former Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi, has blamed his defeat at the 2022 All Progressives Congress (APC) presidential primary on the late President Muhammadu Buhari.

The former Minister of Transportation claimed the former president put the promise in writing and urged him not to campaign or negotiate with delegates ahead of the contest.

Speaking during an interview on Mainland 98.3FM’s The Situation Room programme in Lagos on Friday, the former minister revealed how his reliance on the alleged presidential backing cost him the race against President Bola Tinubu. Tinubu secured the APC ticket at Eagle Square, Abuja, after polling 1,271 votes to defeat Amaechi, who garnered 316 votes.

Amaechi expressed regret over his failure to negotiate with state governors and delegates, stressing that his rivals capitalised on political deals to secure victory at the polls.

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

The former governor also alleged that religion heavily influenced the outcome of the primary election. He stated that supporters of the current president deployed religious sentiments to sway delegates, particularly across the Northwest region, through a group of Yoruba Muslims from the South.

Amaechi also mentioned the former Kaduna State Governor, Nasir El-Rufai, as one of those who initially supported his ambition before switching allegiance to Tinubu.

“El-Rufai was my supporter. El-Rufai, in a viral video, said this is done for the faith,” he added.

Amaechi warned that weaponising religion for political gains would only deepen divisions within the country. He insisted that as a nationalist, he would never instruct the estimated 35 million Catholics in Nigeria to vote for him solely based on shared religious beliefs, warning that such moves would ignite a national crisis.