Rotimi Amaechi, who used to be the Minister of Transportation, has said that he doesn’t like the idea of choosing the African Democratic Congress (ADC) presidential candidate for the 2027 election by consensus.
In an interview with Channels Television on Friday, the former Governor of Rivers State said that people should be able to make their own decisions.
He did say, though, that he is willing to back whoever becomes the ADC presidential candidate, but he would rather the party hold a primary election.
Amaechi made his point clear in response to a statement made earlier by former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, who said that the ADC would first look into the possibility of choosing its flagbearer by consensus.
He said, “I don’t agree with those who say consensus candidate, but if he wins, I’ll support him.” Let’s go out and talk to the people. They should be able to choose who they want in the party.
“There has to be a primary election in the ADC.” I don’t agree with people who say there should be a candidate that everyone agrees on.
Amaechi said that zoning is an internal process of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and should not be binding in modern terms.
The former governor also said that being younger than the other candidates for president gives him an edge because the job needs someone who is still capable.
“Former Vice President Atiku is more than qualified to be the president of Nigeria. He has the right to run, but the issue of zoning or no zoning is a PDP thing. I don’t agree with this south, north, whatever; I agree that the most qualified candidate should be able to govern or be elected.
“I’m 60 years old, which makes me the youngest candidate running right now. The other ones are in their 70s. “This thing needs capacity,” he said.
