Northern Candidate for ADC Presidency Might Face Southern Rejection, Warns Amaechi

Rotimi Amaechi, a former Minister of Transportation, has cautioned that the African Democratic Congress (ADC) might find it challenging to persuade voters in southern Nigeria to support a presidential candidate from the North. He advised the party to carefully evaluate the dynamics of power zoning within the country before making its selection for the next general election.

Amaechi indicated his willingness to support any candidate who emerges from the ADC, but stressed the importance of making strategic choices that would enhance the party's national appeal and increase its chances of electoral success.

"I will support whoever emerges," he stated. "However, I also urge the ADC to assess the available options and identify the best candidate who can convince Nigerians that positive change is possible."

He highlighted three crucial factors the party should consider when selecting its presidential candidate: competence, age, and the existing power-sharing arrangements in Nigeria. He noted that respecting the unwritten rule regarding the rotation of power, which currently favours the South, would be beneficial.

"First is capacity. Second is age. Third, and importantly, is to respect the unwritten rule of power which is now in the South," Amaechi explained.

He suggested that acknowledging the current power rotation would make it easier for politicians and voters in the South to align with the party. "They should conclude that and then transfer power to the North. It makes it easier for those of us from the South to say we are going to compete because the North has said, ‘finish all this,’" he elaborated.

Amaechi warned that presenting a northern candidate at a time when many in the South feel power should remain in their region could diminish the ADC's influence in the South.

"If you elect somebody from the North, I am not saying we won't campaign, but it will be difficult to convince the South to give up power because they will ask the North, ‘Why is it that it’s only when power comes to the South that there is a problem?’" he questioned.

Despite these considerations, Amaechi reiterated his commitment to party cohesion and affirmed that he would back the ADC's presidential candidate, irrespective of their regional origin.

"Whether it is a Southerner or a Northerner is immaterial; I will support whoever emerges at the primary," he confirmed.

The former Rivers State governor, who has expressed his intention to contest for the party's presidential ticket, had previously committed to serving a single four-year term to facilitate the return of power to the North. This aligns with the understanding that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu of the All Progressives Congress (APC) would complete an eight-year southern presidency term from 2023 to 2031. Similarly, Peter Obi, a former governor of Anambra State and the Labour Party's presidential candidate in 2023, now a member of the ADC, has also pledged to serve only one term if he secures the party's presidential nomination, in line with the zoning principle.

Amaechi's recent remarks follow a statement by Malam Nasir El-Rufai, a former governor of Kaduna State and a prominent figure in the ADC, who reiterated the party's stance against zoning the presidential ticket. Earlier on Tuesday, former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, considered a leading aspirant within the party, also confirmed that the ADC would not adhere to zoning for its presidential nomination.