Former presidential aide Bashir Ahmad has criticised Rotimi Amaechi, the African Democratic Congress (ADC) vice-presidential candidate, over comments he made about the 2023 presidential race, arguing that Amaechi should accept responsibility for his own decisions rather than blame former President Muhammadu Buhari.
Amaechi said he regretted following Buhari’s instruction not to campaign during the All Progressives Congress (APC) presidential primary contest in 2022. He said Buhari had specifically told him to avoid lobbying delegates or striking agreements, assuring him that he would personally present Amaechi as the consensus candidate.
Ahmad responded that Buhari had upheld party procedures and democratic rivalry throughout the process. In a post on X, he said: “President Buhari was a leader who respected party processes and democratic competition.”
He added that the notion that a private assurance could alone secure the APC nomination failed to account for the political complexities surrounding the primary. Ahmad said Amaechi should own the consequences of his political strategy instead of, in hindsight, assigning fault to a former president and former employer who is no longer alive to give his own account.
