Former Rivers State governor and ex-minister of transportation, Rotimi Amaechi, has said supporters of Labour Party presidential candidate in the 2023 election, Peter Obi, have repeatedly attacked him online, but he deliberately chose not to respond.

Amaechi made the remarks on Friday during a town hall meeting held in Lagos by his supporters under the African Democratic Congress (ADC) progressive movement.

According to him, members of his political camp have been directed to avoid online confrontations and instead engage opponents with facts and issues.

“My people don’t fight. Have you seen any Amaechi person fighting on social media? It is between Atiku people and the Obi people. And Obi people are abusing me; we never reply,” he said in a video shared on X by CRA27 Advocacy, his campaign organisation.

“It’s not because we don’t know English or we cannot reply. The reason we don’t reply is that we always want peace.”

Amaechi explained that his restraint was part of a broader strategy to maintain harmony within the opposition ahead of the 2027 elections.

“There are things you say when you want to win, because it becomes difficult to bring everybody together. Because we know we will win, we’re not abusing everybody, so we can bring everyone together. I’m careful what I say,” he stated.

“My team is under permanent instruction: don’t abuse anybody in ADC. Even Mr President — don’t abuse the president, show the facts.”

The former minister, who contested the All Progressives Congress presidential primary in 2023 but lost to President Bola Tinubu, officially joined the ADC on March 6. He is now seeking the party’s presidential ticket for 2027 alongside Obi and former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar.

At the Lagos gathering, Amaechi called on Nigerians to compare his performance in office with that of Obi and Atiku.

“Compare me to Peter Obi — we were governors at the same time. If he’s a better governor, please choose him. Although the former vice-president was not a governor, he was once a vice-president. Compare my role as governor, as minister, with the role he played as vice-president. If he’s a better person, please choose him,” he said.

Amaechi also highlighted what he described as his active involvement in infrastructure projects during his time as transportation minister.

“When you are sleeping, I’m running on this track, coming back to Lagos by 2 a.m. As minister, from Ibadan, making sure this job was completed on time — I wasn’t sitting in my office writing or reading memos. I made sure that either once or twice a month, I’m on this track. When we were building Kaduna–Kano, the same thing,” he said.

Describing himself as a leader connected to ordinary Nigerians, Amaechi said he understands the realities citizens face daily.

“I’m young. I’m on the street. I know what the problems are. As a minister, as a former governor, I eat in the same restaurants people eat. I don’t go to all these big men’s restaurants because they don’t give me the kind of food I ate when I was small,” he added.

He further appealed to supporters of Obi and Atiku to avoid actions that could divide the opposition coalition ahead of the next general election.

“If you cause this kind of friction, it will be difficult to come together to defeat Tinubu. Focus on defeating Tinubu. On the day of the primary, go and vote for your own candidate, so that when your candidate wins, you’ll be able to bring everybody together,” he said.

Amaechi concluded by warning that political actors often take cues from their supporters, stressing that continued hostility within the party could hurt future cooperation and unity. (Vanguard News)

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