Former Rivers State Governor Rotimi Amaechi has declared that he is the only truly national and most viable candidate in the race for the 2027 presidential election. In a Friday interview on Channels TV, Amaechi dismissed fellow contenders—including former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, President Bola Tinubu, and former Anambra Governor Peter Obi—as regional figures.
“The difference between other candidates and me is that I am the only national and most viable candidate. Only the Nigerian candidate,” Amaechi said. “Some are running as Igbo. Some are running as Hausa-Fulani. President Tinubu is already running as a Yoruba man.”
Amaechi, Abubakar, and Obi are all prominent members of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), a coalition formed to unseat the All Progressives Congress (APC)-led government in 2027.
When asked whether he commands the same level of political popularity as Abubakar and Obi—who together secured millions of votes in the 2023 presidential election—Amaechi responded: “We are registering now in the ADC. Why haven’t the six million registered with the ADC? Why do we have three million? If I were on the ballot [in 2023], I would have more than six million votes.”
The ADC chieftain also asserted that the administration of former President Muhammadu Buhari was superior to President Tinubu’s, insisting that he alone possesses the leadership skills and experience needed to turn the country around.
“I was part of Buhari’s government and can say that it was better than Tinubu’s government,” Amaechi said. “I am running because I am a Nigerian candidate who knows the country’s problems and can solve them.
The factors are different now. Nigerians are hungry. I am the most viable candidate because Nigerians are looking for a president who can bring solutions to the table and change the issue of governance. I have run Rivers and showed I can fight insecurity.”