A former Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi, has warned that it could be tough for the African Democratic Congress (ADC) to win the support of southern Nigerian voters for a presidential candidate from the North.
Amaechi urged the party to carefully consider regional dynamics and their potential impact on the next general election.
Speaking in Kano, the ex-Rivers State governor was asked whether he would back any candidate the ADC produces in 2025.
He said he was ready to support the party’s candidate but stressed that smart decisions were needed to improve the party’s image and win more votes.
“I will support whoever emerges. He also told the ADC to take a look around and find the best material that can show Nigerians that things will start to improve,” he said.
He noted that the party needs to think about three important things when picking its presidential candidate – ability, age and the current balance of power in the country.
“First is capacity. Second is age. Third, and that’s the final point, is to respect the unspoken rule about power that exists in the South,” Amaechi said.
He said that recognizing the current shift in power would help politicians and voters in the South support the party more easily.
They should finish that process and then pass control to the North. He said it makes it easier for people from the South to say they are going to compete because the North has already said, “finish all this.’”
Amaechi said that putting up a candidate from the North when many people in the South think power should stay in the South might make the ADC less popular in that area.
“If you choose someone from the North, I’m not saying we won’t try to campaign, but it will be hard to get the South to give up power because they will ask the North, ‘Why is it that only when power comes to the South does there become a problem?
Amaechi added that he would stand behind the party’s unity. He said he would back the person who becomes the ADC presidential candidate, no matter which region they are from.
“Whether someone is from the South or the North doesn’t matter to me; I will support whoever comes out on top in the primary,” he said.
The former Rivers State governor, who has expressed interest in the party’s presidential nomination, pledged to serve only a single four-year term to ensure that power eventually returns to the North
