Amaechi lied, he couldn’t vote for Buhari in 2015 because of Wike, says Oshiomhole 

Former Minister of Transportation and prospective vice presidential nominee of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), Chibuike Amaechi, is to head the Atiku Abubakar presidential campaign organisation.

However, contrary to Amaechi’s claim that he made the late Muhammadu Buhari president, Senator Adams Oshiomhole (APC, Edo North) has said Amaechi did not even vote for Buhari in 2015.

The decision to appoint the former presidential aspirant as Director-General of the ADC Presidential Campaign Organisation, The Guardian gathered, is part of Abubakar’s plans to deliver a reformed presidency if elected President in the January 16, 2027, presidential poll.

According to a reliable source, Amaechi was considered for the job of steering Atiku’s campaigns in the absence of any state governor in ADC due to his experience in a similar position when he delivered Buhari in the historic defeat of an incumbent, Dr Goodluck Jonathan, in the 2015 poll.

The Guardian learned that part of the propositions pushed on the table during discussions to convince the former minister to accept the VP role in the anticipated Atiku presidency was the offer of free rein to play wide-ranging roles during the electioneering and in the reformed presidency being designed by Atiku.

The source, a former ranking senator and ambassador, disclosed that, having observed the tenuous relationships between various presidents and their deputies after leaving office in 2007, Atiku believes that Nigeria’s Presidency is due for urgent reforms.

He said: ‘’From (President Umaru Musa) Yar’Adua through Jonathan and Buhari, the last three years under Bola Tinubu have exposed the imperfections of the Nigerian Presidency.

‘’Atiku believes that while the United States Presidency assigns clear constitutional roles to the VP, its Nigerian counterpart is made to serve according to the whims of the President. So, in absence of such constitutional stipulations that assign direct responsibilities to the VP, Atiku wants to forge a partnership presidency, with Amaechi taking charge of key functions.’’

He remarked that the former VP was thinking of the planned changes based on his experience during President Olusegun Obasanjo’s second term, when cooperation gave way to friction and confrontation.

“Atiku wants to turn that sad and sour experience into the benefit of his running mate, to ensure that fears and suspicions that give rise to an adversarial relationship between the President and the vice do not arise,” he stated. “He wants to be the president who acknowledges that the office is one big room with two big doors. This is why he said he wants to show by example how the VP should not be either a spare tyre or a tea-server.’’

The Guardian was also informed that former governor of Sokoto State, Senator Aminu Tambuwal, who would have been chosen as Amaechi’s running mate, will likely serve as the Deputy Director-General of the Atiku/Amaechi Presidential Campaign Organisation.

‘’When the VP is officially named this coming week and by the time the campaign organisationis constituted, Nigerians will see how prepared the former Vice President is to rescue the country and strengthen the foundation for a true presidential system,’’ the source hinted.

A member of the ADC Policy Committee, Dr Salihu Lukman, had disclosed that the party was planninga collegiate system of administration to avoid a winner-takes-all tendency that has been the bane of successive presidencies.

Lukman had pointed out that some of the policy reviews envisaged by the ADC would ensure that party leadership stands strong as a guide to the executive and legislature

Oshiomhole, who spoke yesterday in an interview on ‘The Mic On Podcast’, said the ADC chieftain could not vote because he was “overwhelmed” by the influence of his successor as governor of Rivers State, Nyesom Wike.

According to the lawmaker, Amaechi, who served as the Director-General of Buhari’s campaign, instructed his supporters in Rivers to boycott the election.

He said: “Amaechi lied that he made Buhari president. He was not able to vote for Buhari in 2015 because he unwisely directed the people of Rivers to boycott the polls as he was overwhelmed by the forces of Wike.”

Amaechi had claimed in an interview on Arise TV that it was he, not Tinubu, who made Buhari president in 2015.