Former Transport Minister Rotimi Amaechi has fired the first salvo in APC’s 2027 succession battle. He declared President Bola Tinubu did not make Muhammadu Buhari president, Amaechi himself led the electoral fight. The statement, delivered at a closed-door meeting in Port Harcourt, strips the gloss off Tinubu’s long-standing claim to Buhari’s 2015 victory.
Amaechi revealed he swallowed the insult while serving under Buhari to keep party peace. Now freed from ministerial silence, he names Tinubu’s claim a deliberate distortion of history. The former Rivers governor, still a top APC financier, wields the rebuttal as a weapon in the escalating power struggle between Tinubu’s Lagos bloc and the northern political machinery.
The timing is deliberate. APC’s national convention looms next quarter, and Tinubu’s allies are pushing constitutional amendments to extend his influence. Amaechi’s public challenge signals a faction ready to block those amendments, setting the stage for a legislative impasse that could paralyse the party’s 2027 ticket allocation.
This is not mere historical squabble. Amaechi’s camp controls critical northern delegates, and his statement is a direct threat to Tinubu’s control of the party apparatus. Expect court battles over delegate lists, last-minute cross-carpeting, and a surge in electoral malpractice allegations as both factions scramble for numerical advantage.
APC’s 2027 primaries have just become a two-horse race. The party’s unity is now a mirage, and the electorate will watch the godfatherism war unfold with no referee in sight.
