I’d have advised Amaechi against ADC presidential primary run – Wike

Minister of Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike said he had a premonition that former Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi’s run for the 2027 presidential ticket of African Democratic Congress (ADC) would fail.

Speaking during the June edition of his monthly media chat on Monday, Wike said he would have advised Amaechi to shelve the idea.

The minister said he noticed that the ADC was configured to favour former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, who eventually clinched the party’s ticket.

He said, “Amaechi is my brother. I served as Chief of Staff in his government. When I saw that he was running with them, I knew what would happen. If he had called me, I would have said, ‘Don’t go there.’ It was very clear he would not get transparency or due process.”

The minister said former Senate President David Mark’s emergence as ADC National Chairman confirmed the pro-Atiku leaning to him.

Wike said, “When I saw the setup in ADC and saw David Mark there, I laughed. When you have worked with these people, you know who is who and what they are capable of doing. That set-up was Atiku’s set-up 100 per cent.

“You cannot set a trap for me. We know ourselves as politicians. Who told you that kind of structure would give you transparency? Who told you that kind of structure would give you free and fair elections?

“I think my brother made a mistake. He was too much in a hurry. He was carried away by people shouting that this government is not doing well. They used that to lure people in and give themselves credibility.”

A day after the ADC’s presidential primary, Amaechi rejected the process, citing widespread voter disenfranchisement.

Atiku paid him a visit at his private residence in Abuja last Thursday.

The ex-VP said the visit was a birthday courtesy call and an opportunity to discuss Nigeria’s economic and security challenges.