A support group made up of youths, Amaechi Believers Nigeria, has appealed to delegates at the forthcoming presidential primary of the All Progressives Congress to vote for the outgoing Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi, based on his competence.
According to the National Coordinator of the ABN, Charles Eloisalem, the ex-minister is not a moneybag and will seek delegates’ votes with his personal quality.
Amaechi, a former Speaker of the House of Assembly and ex-Governor of Rivers State, is running for president on the platform of the APC, as the ruling party holds its presidential primary at its convention this week.
When our correspondent asked Eloisalem about Amaechi’s financial capability to secure the votes of the delegates, as there are reports that delegates are being paid by aspirants, he noted that the ex-minister was coming to the race with experience and competence, and not money.
“If in our own little way we have been able to pull out 50 delegates who we know would not collect money to betray their conscience, we also want every APC member to do the same. Forget about the money; the money would last you for one or two months – highest three months. And after that, do you mortgage your future and your children’s future for $2,000 or $3,000; or in naira, N1m or N2m? Is that how much you want to mortgage the future of your children?
“Forget about the money and look at the antecedents of the various aspirants. That way, you would make the right choice,” he said.
On the likelihood of the APC jettisoning power rotation and opting for a candidate from the North, Eloisalem said, “I believe in 2018 when the president was campaigning in Imo State, he specifically said that the next president of Nigeria would come from the South. I want the president to be a man of his words, which we have known him to be, and keep to his words that the next president of Nigeria should come from the South.
“I want my party, the APC, to listen to the president, because he said this in 2018 and they should make sure they keep to their words to Nigerians, and make sure that the presidential ticket goes to the South, as against throwing it open for anybody to contest.”
Eloisalem, who was accompanied by the National Organising Secretary, Kufre Nathan; National Youth Leader/Kogi State Coordinator, Mohammad Mustapha, among other executives of the group, had held a press conference in Abuja on Friday.
There, he stated that only Amaechi could win the presidential election for the APC as its candidate.
Eloisalem said, “We are working steadfastly to become the largest sub-political body by 2027 and by implication, have a large number of delegates who would determine any election by internal party voting strength come 2026.
“We are all Nigerians and duly registered members of the APC, from across the six geo-political zones and few in the Diaspora, cut across different tribes, tongues, religions, academic qualifications but all united in our extraordinary belief and love for our nation.
“Since our inception in March 2022, we have been able to build structures in over 15 states, namely Bauchi, Kaduna, Kogi, Rivers, Kebbi, Borno, Adamawa, Ebonyi, Ekiti, Taraba, Kwara, Oyo, Osun, Abia and Akwa Ibom states of Nigeria, with over 10,230 members across these states.
“We make a bold claim that our group has a good number of delegates – and as of the time of this press briefing ‘50’ who actively participated in their various states’ primaries and had to fly in this morning to be available for our meeting – and counting, and by the mercies of God, before the presidential primary on the 30/31 of May, that number will double.
“Rt. Hon. Rotimi Chibuike Amaechi is that man who understands that positive continuity is the sole roadmap to development. We urge you all to choose with your heads, hearts and conscience and not with your ethnicity or emotions. A vote for Rt. Hon. Rotimi Chibuike Amaechi at the APC primary is a vote that forwards Nigeria to progress.”
