‘We’ll Meet at The Field’ – Amaechi Replies Tinubu, Vows to Match Ruling Party’s Campaign Tactics

‘We’ll Meet at The Field’ – Amaechi Replies Tinubu, Vows to Match Ruling Party’s Campaign Tactics

The Vice Presidential candidate of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) for the 2027 election, Rotimi Amaechi, has responded to President Bola Tinubu’s recent remarks that anyone seeking to remove him from office must be ready to “wrestle” him until the end, declaring that the opposition is prepared to meet the President “at the field” and match whatever the ruling party brings to the electoral contest. Amaechi made the remarks during an interview on Channels Television’s Politics Today while reacting to the controversy surrounding comments by the Archbishop Emeritus of Abuja, Cardinal John Onaiyekan. The former Minister of Transportation, who contested against Tinubu for the APC presidential ticket in 2022 before defecting to the ADC, dismissed the President’s confidence, stating that the real test will be at the ballot box. “Let the president continue to tell the public that he would win the election at all cost until we get to the field. Whatever the president wants us to do at the field, we will do it. I’m not worried about what he wants to do. We will meet at the field,” Amaechi declared.

Members of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Nigeria had on Tuesday last week met President Tinubu at the State House. During the meeting, Tinubu reaffirmed his determination to seek re-election in 2027, insisting that politics was a contest in which everyone had equal opportunities. “I asked for this job. I’m in it. Those who will take it from me will try. They will try. All is fair in politics, and it’s equal opportunity,” Tinubu said. He also defended the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), describing it as neutral, and added: “I’m ready, but I won’t give them a red carpet. I won’t offer them the leash to tie me and rope me. No, we wrestle each other to the finishing point.”

Amaechi took issue with Tinubu’s assertion that “all is fair in politics,” questioning whether the President’s remark undermines the credibility of the electoral process. The ADC chieftain argued that Tinubu should have used the opportunity of the meeting with the Catholic bishops to reassure Nigerians of a free and fair election rather than making ambiguous statements. “Look at the president’s statement that all is fair in politics. If a thug takes a gun and shoots me where I’m voting, is it fair?” Amaechi asked. “When the president has said to you all is fair in politics, when the Catholic Church is crying about the possibility of having an election that may not be fair, all the president needs to do is to reassure the country that APC, PDP, and ADC will slug it out on an even field, that it will be a free and fair election, let the best team wins.”

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In a further show of political combativeness, Amaechi warned that his camp would be prepared to match any attacks from the Tinubu administration during the campaign season. “By the time we start the campaign, we will abuse anybody who is ready to abuse anybody. We will descend as low as they want. The president said all is fair in politics; we will descend to that level if that is what they want,” the former Rivers State governor declared. However, Amaechi added that he is currently focused on mourning his late mother and suspended his period of mourning to address what he considered disrespectful comments directed at the Catholic Church by officials of the Presidency. “I came here simply to say, please ask the President to stop insulting the Catholic Church, to stop insulting Christians. They should respect God and respect the Christian faith. They should stop insulting Christians,” Amaechi said.

The ADC vice presidential candidate also came to the defence of Archbishop Emeritus of Abuja, Cardinal John Onaiyekan, who recently came under fire from presidential aides after revealing details of the bishops’ closed-door meeting with Tinubu. Amaechi accused the Presidency of showing disrespect for the Catholic Church and the Christian faith by deploying what he called “attack dogs” to intimidate Cardinal Onaiyekan. “What the president and his men are doing is insulting my faith. They are insulting the Catholic Church,” Amaechi said. He further argued that the Tinubu administration would never have reacted the same way if the Sultan of Sokoto, Muhammadu Sa’ad Abubakar III, had made similar remarks. “If the Sultan had confronted the President, would they have insulted him? We’ve been insulted because we are Christians,” Amaechi asserted. Amaechi maintained that Cardinal Onaiyekan was not aligned with any political party but was genuinely concerned about poverty, corruption, and the welfare of Nigerians. “Cardinal Onaiyekan himself supports nobody. The only thing that pains him is the level of indiscretion and poverty in the country and corruption. He worries about that,” Amaechi said.

Following the meeting with the President, Cardinal Onaiyekan had said Tinubu appeared determined to win the 2027 presidential election “by all means” and that the President disagreed with the bishops’ assessment of the country’s economic situation, insisting that conditions were improving despite the hardship being experienced by many Nigerians. According to the Cardinal, Tinubu’s response suggested that those around him were not giving him an accurate picture of the situation in the country. The Cardinal also said the bishops had no intention of engaging in a public exchange with government spokespersons, stating: “We have no response for them. We have spoken, and the only response we are waiting for is whether it is affecting the way they are governing.” He explained that the audience with President Tinubu was initiated after months of waiting for approval and was not intended as an evangelistic mission, but rather an opportunity to present the bishops’ concerns about governance and welfare of Nigerians. “We didn’t go there just as Catholic bishops pushing the Catholic agenda. No. We went there as people who are with the spiritual mandate to speak to anybody in the name of God,” Onaiyekan said.

Amaechi, who served as Minister of Transportation under former President Muhammadu Buhari, was one of the aspirants who contested the APC presidential primary election in 2022, losing the ticket to Tinubu. He later defected to the ADC and was selected as the running mate to former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, who will fly the ADC’s presidential ticket in the 2027 election. The ADC described the Atiku-Amaechi partnership as a “unity and rescue ticket” aimed at offering Nigerians an alternative platform ahead of the next general election. According to the ADC, Amaechi’s emergence followed broad consultations within the party and reflected his strong performance as runner-up in the party’s presidential primaries, as well as his extensive track record of service as Speaker of the Rivers State House of Assembly, two-term Governor of Rivers State, and Minister of Transportation. The ADC ticket, which brings together two political heavyweights who were once rivals, is positioning itself as a formidable challenger to President Tinubu and the ruling APC in the upcoming election. Amaechi’s latest comments signal that the opposition is gearing up for a fiercely contested political battle.

‘We’ll Meet at The Field’ – Amaechi Replies Tinubu, Vows to Match Ruling Party’s Campaign Tactics