Atiku visits Amaechi after winning ADC presidential primary, seeks party unity
Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar on Thursday paid a visit to Rotimi Amaechi, former minister of transportation, at his Abuja residence, shortly after winning the presidential primary election of the African Democratic Congress (ADC).
Atiku on Wednesday defeated Amaechi and Mohammed Hayatu-Deen, former managing director of the defunct FSB International Bank.
The primary was held in 8,809 wards and 774 local government areas (LGAs) across the country.
According to the breakdown of the results, the former vice-president got 1,846,370 votes against Amaechi’s 504,117. Hayatu-deen came third with 177,120 votes.
Out of 3,113,599 registered ADC members, 2,527,977 voted in the exercise.
The former vice-president will slug it out with President Bola Tinubu, the All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate and Peter Obi, the consensus candidate of the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC), in the 2027 presidential election.
In his acceptance speech after the primary, Atiku urged Amaechi and Hayatu-Deen to join him in the fight to save Nigeria and its democracy.
During the visit to Amaechi’s residence, he was accompanied by key political figures, including Aminu Tambuwal, former Sokoto state governor, Ralph Nwosu, former ADC national chairman, and other party stakeholders.
The visit is seen as part of ongoing consultations to foster unity within the party following the closely contested primary, as preparations begin ahead of the 2027 general elections.
Atiku said he and Amaechi had “deep and honest conversations about the troubling state of our nation, the growing economic pain, insecurity, and the urgent responsibility on patriotic Nigerians to continue engaging in the search for solutions that can rescue our country from drift and despair”.
