The African Democratic Congress (ADC) vice-presidential candidate and former Rivers State governor, Rotimi Amaechi, has urged party leaders to intensify mobilisation across their respective states to prevent President Bola Tinubu from securing re-election in the 2027 presidential election.
Amaechi warned that several of the party’s political leaders could be forced into retirement if Tinubu wins another term.
Speaking at the ADC National Women League Conference in Abuja on Wednesday, the former governor cited the APC’s defeat of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) at the federal level in 2015 as an example of how effective grassroots mobilisation could change political power.
He urged the women to return to their states and wards to mobilise voters, stressing that the ADC would need strong grassroots support to defeat the APC.
He said, “If you are not from 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.
“If 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, who previously served as Minister of Transportation, recalled the role played by women in the APC’s 2015 campaign against the PDP.
“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. Nigeria could afford some food, right? Now, how many of you can afford the food? How many of you can pay school fees without texting, texting to Dino (Senator Dino Melaye) or somebody else to give you some money for school fees.
“Every week, 10 Nigerians move into poverty. If they tell you how many Nigerians have died, you’ll be shocked. 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 per cent from the North, into poverty.
“If you’re a northerner and you’re sitting here, you shouldn’t even be singing at all. Tinubu is taking you more every day into poverty. The thing you need to do is to take the battle into your hands. If all the women in the North come out to vote, Tinubu cannot announce any result.”
Also speaking at the event, Hajiya Titi Atiku Abubakar urged the women to work towards improving the country and resist intimidation.
She encouraged them to engage their friends, neighbours and other members of their communities and persuade them to support the ADC at the polls.
“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. So where is the money? And we are in a cashless society, that even all the monies are being taken away.
“People work, the 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. We have to get it.
“Most of our children are not in schools because the cost of living is so expensive. So, women, I implore you. Women, I beg you. Don’t let them come and buy you with food. And we have to go to all the corners of this Nigeria, especially to the people in villages,” she said.
