₦airaland Forum

By : Leo Sobechi


Barring any last-minute change of formation, former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has succeeded in setting up a possible ‘AA’ ticket on the presidential ballot of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) by picking former Transportation Minister, Chibuike Amaechi, as his running mate.

Also, yesterday, he declared that the actions by the Bola Tinubu-led All Progressives Congress (APC) administration contradicted the spirit, sacrifice and legacy of June 12.

Coming after weeks of rigorous negotiations within the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC) coalition platform, which was threatened by post-primary recriminations, the choice of Amaechi comes as a bold counter to the OK ticket pairing of Peter Obi and Rabiu Kwankwaso on the rival NDC for the January 16, 2027, presidential election.

By settling for Amaechi, Atiku seems to have decided to do what he failed to do in the lead-up to the 2023 election cycle, when he refused to accept former Rivers State governor, Nyesom Wike, who emerged as the first runner-up in the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) presidential primary.

While the duo of the 2023 Labour Party (LP) presidential candidate, Obi, and his New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP) counterpart, Kwankwaso, joined the ADC, speculations were rife that the party had a predetermined plan to have Atiku run with the former transportation minister to achieve a North-East/South-South balance on the party’s presidential ballot.

But contrary to those conjectures, Amaechi, shortly after he filled and returned his N90 million presidential nomination form, said he was not positioning himself for a VP slot.

Further, pushing back on the reports of a possible pairing with Atiku after Obi and Kwankwaso left ADC for the NDC, Amaechi, on May 20, ruled out the possibility of a consensus rather than a direct primary.

Speaking to The Guardian on how the former Transportation Minister finally succumbed to pressures and entreaties from highly placed political leaders from both the North-West and South-South, a very close ally of Amaechi said Atiku assured that the “VP nominee would have extensive roles to play in the campaigns and government”.

Before the latest development, ADC chieftain, Eze Chukwuemeka Eze, had dismissed comments credited to party stalwart, Dele Momodu, suggesting that Amaechi had rejected the party’s VP slot ahead of the 2027 general election.

In a statement posted on his verified social media accounts yesterday, Eze described Momodu’s remarks as personal opinion capable of creating unnecessary tension, mistrust and misunderstanding within the party.

According to him, Amaechi’s previous comments after the ADC presidential primaries had only indicated that no one had approached him regarding a VP position.

ATIKU, in a statement which he personally signed and released to commemorate another Democracy Day on June 12, urged citizens to stand up against bad governance, reject the politics of intimidation, and resist every manifestation of democratic backsliding.

He stressed that Nigerians must, once again, summon the courage of those who marched, protested, resisted, suffered and sacrificed for freedom for June 12 to retain its meaning.

The Adamawa politician said, over the past three years, Nigerians had witnessed a deliberate and coordinated effort to weaken, fragment and neutralise opposition political parties ahead of the 2027 general elections.

He added that through manufactured leadership crises, orchestrated defections, political intimidation and the abuse of state institutions, every credible opposition platform had come under sustained attack.

The former VP said institutions that ought to serve the Nigerian people impartially had increasingly been transformed into instruments of partisan warfare, adding that anti-graft agencies, the police, the National Assembly, and even segments of the judiciary had been deployed to harass, intimidate, and coerce opposition voices into submission or defection.

omenka:
All of these and the drama in the ndc are meant just for our entertainment tbh. I see no one amongst these clowns who can upstage Tinubu at this point.

omenka:
All of these and the drama in the ndc are meant just for our entertainment tbh. I see no one amongst these clowns who can upstage Tinubu at this point.

Stop That Nonsense!
Stop Calling Me Vice Presidential Candidate. - Rotimi Amaechi.

Former Minister of Transportation Rotimi Amaechi has fired back at speculation that he is angling to be a running mate in the 2027 elections, saying he never bought a form to be vice president.… pic.twitter.com/Z6RqRts2Nn

— Oluwole Olofintuyi (@OluOlofin1) May 26, 2026

Dreal1247:
Before Atiku Abubakar will contest in the coming election, Wike is no longer in the Tinubu cabinet. Coming together with Amaechi is petrol being added to already burning fire 🔥.

sioniboy:
As Buhari don die, Atiku is now the biggest politician from the north. In the south, no other politician is as big as Obi (apart from the incumbent president). Imagine both of them now contesting together on a joint ticket; it will be impossible for Tinubu to defeat such a combo.

omenka:
All of these and the drama in the ndc are meant just for our entertainment tbh. I see no one amongst these clowns who can upstage Tinubu at this point.

"I know of States that have received over 500 billion Naira from the Federal Government as palliative, but I have never received anything.

I think the reason I don't get it is because I'm not in APC.

-Dauda Lawal, Zamfara State Governor pic.twitter.com/QvfR8olibA

— Arewa Source (@Arewa_Source) February 17, 2026

AMINDA:
Where will Tinubu's votes come from? In 2023, he got defeated by Obi in the South, winning only 4 Yoruba states out of 17 Southern states. He became president because of the 5.6m Northern votes. Atiku has barely lost a voter from his 6.9m votes in 2023 but he has made huge incursions into the North with the demise of Buhari and Tinubu's betrayal of the Northern allies that helped him to galvanise votes.

omenka:
All of these and the drama in the ndc are meant just for our entertainment tbh. I see no one amongst these clowns who can upstage Tinubu at this point.

Dreal1247:
Before Atiku Abubakar will contest in the coming election, Wike is no longer in the Tinubu cabinet. Coming together with Amaechi is petrol being added to already burning fire 🔥.

AMINDA:
Still conjectures but this will be a solid ticket. Congratulations in advance to Waziri Atiku Abubakar and Rt. Hon. Rotimi Chibuike Amaechi.

seunmsg:
You mean Atiku's votes in Osun, Delta, Bayelsa, Akwa Ibom, Edo and Taraba are still intact? Well, delusion is free so it's your right to be deluded.

Svoboda:
What can Wike do apart from noise? Is he going to teleguide over 2.5m voters in rivers? People don't realize that Tinubu is a hard sell. Unless there's something personal you're getting from Tinubu, nobody will stick out his neck for him.

MadPolitician:
Where will Amechi get the votes for Atiku The north? The South West?
Dude cant even win Obia Akpor Localgovernment, so from where will the votes come from!?
From Rivers state? Wike will rather commit suicide than allow him win a single local government.

From the South East?
He shot himself in the foot when he loquaciously denied the zone the other day because he thought that in these days of APCs sectional anti-igbo politics, that was the right thing to do.

The South South?
No one at Edo, Delta, Cross Rivers or Bayelsa will listen to him. Dude is not even popular in the South South.
So where will the votes come from?
Amechi is nothing but a power hungry interloper who thinks that because he has managed to siphone billions from government coffers, he can now use such resources to hyjack federal power.
It won't work!