Former Minister of Transportation and African Democratic Congress (ADC) vice-presidential candidate, Chief Rotimi Amaechi, has expressed confidence that the party will defeat President Bola Tinubu and the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the 2027 general election, predicting victories in 13 states across Northern Nigeria.
Amaechi said the ADC was strategically positioned to win across the North-East and North-West, while also making significant inroads into the North-Central and South-South geopolitical zones.
He made the prediction on Saturday during the party’s presidential campaign rally in Bauchi State, where he accused the ruling APC of relying on electoral practices he alleged characterised the 2023 general election.
The former Rivers State governor warned that the opposition party would resist any attempt to repeat what he claimed happened during the last presidential election.
“Because these people will do what they did in 2023. This time, we shall not agree. Do you understand? We will not do what?” he said.
Amaechi, who is the running mate to former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar, maintained that the ADC had a stronger electoral base in the North, pointing to its anticipated support across the 13 states in the North-East and North-West.
“We are the only party that comes with 13 states. The whole of North-East, the whole of North-West, that is 13, right? Let the President tell us how many states he comes with. He comes with only five in the South-West,” he said.
He also predicted that the APC would lose another state in the South-West to the Allied Peoples Movement (APM), further weakening Tinubu’s electoral prospects in the region.
“That’s if he will. And the sixth state in the South-West will vote APM, whether he likes it or not,” he added.
The ADC vice-presidential candidate said his party was prepared to challenge the ruling party beyond the Northern region, particularly in the South-South and North-Central, where he expressed confidence that Atiku would secure victories in Niger, Kogi and Nasarawa states.
“We will fight with him in South-South. We will fight with him in North-Central. And be sure, be rest assured, Niger, Kogi, Nasarawa will be in ours easily,” he said.
On the South-East, Amaechi dismissed the prospect of Tinubu making significant electoral gains in the region, insisting that the ADC would emerge victorious in the presidential contest.
“He will not go to South-East at all. Be rest assured, we will win. We will win. Things will get better,” he said.
The Bauchi rally comes against the backdrop of an ongoing leadership dispute within the ADC, following a November 5 judgment of the Federal High Court in Abuja, which nullified the party’s National Working Committee led by former Senate President David Mark.
The court also invalidated decisions taken under the leadership, including the process that produced Atiku as the party’s presidential candidate, and directed the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) not to recognise resolutions reached at the party’s 99th National Executive Committee meeting held on July 27, 2025.
However, the ADC rejected the ruling, declaring its intention to challenge the judgment in court and maintaining that its political activities and preparations for the 2027 elections would continue.
Atiku, who served as Vice-President from 1999 to 2007, emerged as the ADC presidential candidate during the party’s May 2026 primary, with Amaechi selected as his running mate.
