The presidential candidate of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), Atiku Abubakar, has selected the former Minister of Transportation, Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi, as his running mate for the upcoming election.
POLITICS NIGERIA reports that the development was confirmed on Saturday.
The immediate past Chairman of the ADC in Rivers State, Leader Sampson, confirmed the development on Saturday.
When asked directly whether Amaechi had accepted the nomination to serve as vice-presidential candidate, Sampson simply replied, “Yes,” according to a Daily Post report.
The selection follows the recent ADC presidential primary election, a direct primary involving over 2.5 million votes cast from the party’s 3.1 million registered members. In that contest, Atiku emerged as the standard-bearer after securing a landslide victory with 1,855,787 votes, defeating Amaechi, who polled 509,397 votes, and businessman Mohammed Hayatu-Deen, who garnered 180,903 votes.
Prior to the primary election, Amaechi had publicly stated that he did not purchase the ADC presidential expression of interest and nomination forms with the intention of becoming a vice-presidential candidate.
Following the conclusion of the voting process, Amaechi and Hayatu-Deen challenged the transparency of the exercise, alleging that the internal process had been manipulated in favour of Atiku.
However, a political breakthrough reportedly crystallized following a recent reconciliation visit by Atiku to Amaechi’s residence shortly after the primaries.
During the meeting at the Transcorp Hilton in Abuja, Atiku allegedly appealed for party unity and explicitly urged Amaechi and Hayatu-Deen to join him in building a formidable front to save Nigeria’s democracy, emphasizing that the primary was a collective effort rather than a battle of winners and losers.
With Amaechi’s reported acceptance of the position, the ADC leadership is expected to make an official joint announcement to the public soon.
