Former Rivers State Governor and African Democratic Congress (ADC) vice-presidential candidate, Rotimi Amaechi, has expressed confidence that the party will defeat President Bola Tinubu in the 2027 presidential election, boasting that it has the backing of 13 states across Northern Nigeria.
Amaechi claimed that the ADC had a strong political presence across the North-East and North-West, arguing that President Tinubu’s support base in the South-West was limited to five states.
He made the remarks on Saturday during the ADC presidential campaign rally in Bauchi State.
The former governor expressed confidence in the chances of former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar in the forthcoming election.
According to Amaechi, the ADC would not only dominate the North-East and North-West but would also challenge the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) in the South-South and North-Central regions.
He predicted that Niger, Kogi and Nasarawa states would support the ADC in the 2027 election.
The former Minister of Transportation also warned that the party would not allow a repeat of what he alleged happened during the 2023 presidential election.
“Because these people will do what they did in 2023. This time, we shall not agree. Do you understand? We will not do what?” he told supporters.
“We are the only party that comes with 13 states. The whole of North-East, the whole of North-West, that is 13, right? Let the President tell us how many states he comes with. He comes with only five in the South-West,” he added.
Amaechi further claimed that the APC could lose another state in the South-West to the Allied Peoples Movement (APM).
Oyo State Governor Seyi Makinde is the APM presidential candidate.
“That’s if he will. And the sixth state in the South-West will vote APM, whether he likes it or not,” he added.
The ADC vice-presidential candidate maintained that the party would also make significant inroads into the South-South and North-Central, insisting that Atiku would secure victories in several states across the two regions.
“We will fight with him in South-South. We will fight with him in North-Central. And be sure, be rest assured, Niger, Kogi, Nasarawa will be in ours easily,” Amaechi stated.
“He will not go to South-East at all. Be rest assured, we will win. We will win. Things will get better,” he added.
The former Rivers governor is Atiku’s running mate following the former vice-president’s emergence as the ADC presidential candidate at the party’s May 2026 primary.
However, the party’s preparations have been complicated by an ongoing leadership dispute.
On November 5, 2026, the Federal High Court in Abuja nullified the leadership of the ADC National Working Committee led by former Senate President David Mark and invalidated decisions taken under it, including the process that produced Atiku as the party’s presidential candidate.
Justice Peter Lifu also ordered the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) not to recognise decisions taken at the party’s 99th National Executive Committee meeting held in July 2025.
The judgment followed a suit filed by former ADC National Deputy Chairman (North-East), Nafiu Bala Gombe, who challenged the process through which the Mark-led leadership assumed control of the party.
The ADC rejected the judgment and announced plans to challenge it at the Court of Appeal, maintaining that its political activities and preparations for the 2027 elections would continue. The party subsequently filed an appeal and sought a stay of execution of the judgment.
Amaechi’s reference to the 2023 presidential election also comes against the background of the contest in which Tinubu, then the APC candidate, was declared winner by INEC with 8,794,726 votes.
Atiku, who contested on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), came second with 6,984,520 votes, while Peter Obi of the Labour Party finished third with 6,101,533 votes.
