*’Amaechi’s presidential ambition dead on arrival’
The Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, has claimed that a former Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Babachir Lawal, believed he would be chosen as the running mate by then-presidential candidate Bola Tinubu.
Speaking on Channels Television’s Politics Today show on Tuesday, Wike said: “After President Tinubu chose Kashim Shettima as his VP, Babachir Lawal visited me at my home in Port Harcourt. He was angry because he thought the president would choose him as his VP.”
The FCT Minister also declared that former Transport Minister Rotimi Amaechi’s presidential aspirations is dead on arrival.
Wike stated that Nigerians will not give Amaechi a chance in the 2027 election.
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Amaechi, a member of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) opposition group intent to unseat All Progressives Congress (APC) President Bola Tinubu in the 2027 election, finished second in the 2022 APC presidential primary, which was won by ex-Lagos governor Tinubu.
Amaechi left the APC in 2025 to join the ADC, where he is seeking the party’s presidential ticket for 2027.
However, Wike, who incidentally shared a common history with Amaechi as former Rivers State governor, said his predecessor won’t get the ADC ticket for the 2027 poll.
The FCT minister said, “He (Amaechi) knows he won’t get the ticket. I read that he said he knows the weaknesses of the president, so he knows how to defeat him, but he also knew the weaknesses of the president in 2022 when the president defeated him mercilessly in the primary. “Nigerians know the last person they will give a ticket to because they know it (Amaechi’s bid) is dead on arrival.”
