The ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) has launched a blistering verbal assault on former Minister of Transportation, Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi, labeling him a “loafer outside public office” and fiercely questioning his political moral high ground ahead of the 2027 presidential election.
APC took aim at Amaechi’s recent public admissions regarding his personal finances following his departure from government.
The standard-bearer of controversy was ignited by Amaechi’s comments claiming he could not afford medications for his late mother, Dame Ezinne Mary Oduah Amaechi, prior to her death at age 89, as well as earlier statements suggesting he had fallen on hard times and was being fed by his wife.
In a statement issued in Abuja on Sunday by its National Publicity Secretary, Felix Morka, the APC, rather than drawing sympathy, weaponized these admissions to challenge the former Rivers State governor’s readiness to return to executive power, this time as the Vice-Presidential candidate under the platform of the African Democratic Congress (ADC).
‘A Four-Decade Freeloader’
The APC statement offered condolences for the passing of Amaechi’s mother before delivering a scathing assessment of his four-decade career in public service—which includes stints as a two-term Speaker of the Rivers State House of Assembly, two-term Governor, and two-term Cabinet Minister.
“For four decades, Rotimi Amaechi freeloaded at the highest levels of public office,” Morka declared.
“He was never hungry and could afford medications for himself and his family. Just three years out of office, he has become destitute, unable to fend for himself and his loved ones.”
The party mocked Amaechi’s sudden financial claims, suggesting that an inability to remain self-sufficient outside government patronage exposed deep personal and professional shortcomings.
“If Amaechi is not struggling with some kind of Peter Pan syndrome, then he must be a loafer, aimless and irresponsible for his inability to be productive and earn a living outside the patronage of public office,” the party stated, sarcastically wishing him employment in his hometown of Ubima, Rivers State, so he could “feed and buy medications for himself and his beloved family.”
The ruling party warned Nigerians against entertaining Amaechi’s current bid for the vice presidency on the ADC ticket, accusing him of seeking power merely to return to a public-funded lifestyle.
“The same Rotimi Amaechi now asks Nigerians to make him vice president come 2027 so he can continue leeching on the public treasury and keep the predatory lifestyle he has grown accustomed to.
“The presidency is not a soup kitchen and will not be a soup kitchen for Rotimi Amaechi.”
As of press time, neither Amaechi nor the leadership of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) had issued a formal response to the APC’s statement.
The fiery press release underscores the rapidly intensifying political rhetoric as parties gear up for the 2027 general elections. Amaechi, who ran for the APC presidential ticket in 2022 before eventually defecting to the ADC, has increasingly positioned himself as a critic of the current economic reality.