A former Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi, has said that it might be difficult for the African Democratic Congress, ADC, to convince voters in southern Nigeria to support a presidential candidate from the North.
Amaechi urged the party to think carefully about the different regions and how they might affect the election before the next general election comes around.
He said he was ready to support the party’s candidate but stressed that smart decisions were needed to improve the party’s image and win more votes.
“I will support whoever emerges. He also told the ADC to take a look around and find the best material that can show Nigerians that things will start to improve,” he said.
He noted that the party needs to think about three important things when picking its presidential candidate – ability, age and the current balance of power in the country.
“First is capacity. Second is age. Third, and that’s the final point, is to respect the unspoken rule about power that exists in the South,” Amaechi said.
He said that recognizing the current shift in power would help politicians and voters in the South support the party more easily.
“They should finish that process and then pass control to the North. He said t makes it easier for people from the South to say they are going to compete because the North has already said, “finish all this.’”
Amaechi said that putting up a candidate from the North when many people in the South think power should stay in the South might make the ADC less popular in that area.
“If you choose someone from the North, I’m not saying we won’t try to campaign, but it will be hard to get the South to give up power because they will ask the North, ‘Why is it that only when power comes to the South does there become a problem?”
“Whether someone is from the South or the North doesn’t matter to me; I will support whoever comes out on top in the primary,” he said.
