Vice-presidential candidate of the African Democratic Congress, ADC, Rotimi Amaechi, has urged leaders and supporters of the party to return to their states and wards and intensify their campaign ahead of the 2027 presidential election.
Amaechi, a former governor of Rivers State and former Minister of Transportation, said opposition leaders must mobilise voters at the grassroots if the ADC is to defeat the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC, at the presidential election.
Speaking at the ADC National Women League Conference in Abuja on Wednesday, Amaechi recalled how the APC mobilised women and other grassroots supporters during the 2015 election, when the party defeated the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, at the centre.
He said the same level of mobilisation would be required if the ADC is to challenge the APC in 2027, urging members of the party to take the campaign beyond Abuja and into their respective states and wards.
Amaechi 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 announced that he would return to Rivers State as part of the political mobilisation ahead of the elections.
He used the 2015 election as an example of how grassroots mobilisation could influence the outcome of a presidential contest. According to him, women played an important role in the APC’s campaign at the time, with party leaders engaging them directly in different communities.
“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,” he said.
Amaechi also linked his call for mobilisation to the economic difficulties facing Nigerians, arguing that the current cost of living could become an important issue during the 2027 election campaign.
“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,” he said.
He further claimed that the number of out-of-school children had increased significantly, while also alleging that more Nigerians had been pushed into poverty.
“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 ADC supporters, particularly women, to intensify their mobilisation and persuade voters to support the party.
She said the rising cost of living had made it increasingly difficult for many Nigerians to afford basic necessities, including medicines and education.
“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.
Amaechi’s comments came amid growing opposition consultations ahead of the 2027 presidential election, with several political groups exploring the possibility of cooperation against the APC.
A fresh round of consultations intensified after a closed-door meeting between ADC presidential candidate Atiku Abubakar and coalition leaders at his Abuja residence on Tuesday night.
The meeting was attended by National Chairman of the Peoples Redemption Party, Hakeem Baba-Ahmed, as well as other political figures involved in efforts to bring opposition parties together. Members of Atiku’s campaign council were also said to have attended.
PRP National Publicity Secretary, Muhammed Ishaq, confirmed the meeting in a statement issued on Wednesday and said the engagement was part of broader consultations among opposition parties and political leaders.
“Leaders of coalition parties, as well as others interested in joining, recognise the need to broaden and strengthen the coalition’s capacity to defeat the APC in 2027 and give Nigeria a new lease on life,” Ishaq said.
Other opposition figures and groups have also been discussing ways to reduce the number of presidential candidates who may contest the 2027 election separately.
The Movement for Credible Elections, MCE, led by Professor Pat Utomi’s Political Commission, has commenced consultations with opposition presidential candidates and political parties as part of efforts to facilitate the emergence of a common opposition presidential candidate.
Among those identified for consultations are Atiku, Peter Obi of the Nigeria Democratic Congress, Adewole Adebayo of the Social Democratic Party, Seyi Makinde of the Allied Peoples Movement, Donald Duke of the Peoples Redemption Party, Sandy Onor of the PDP, Peter Agada of the Young Progressive Party and African Action Congress candidate Omoyele Sowore.
Another initiative, known as G100, has also been consulting with opposition parties and political leaders over possible cooperation ahead of the election.
G100 released what it called the “Doctrine of a Necessary Democratic Opposition” and urged opposition parties to consider working around a single presidential candidate, a common programme and a coordinated strategy.
The consultations involving the ADC, APM, NDC, PDP, PRP and SDP are taking place as opposition politicians weigh different approaches to the 2027 contest.
