The All Progressives Congress, APC, and African Democratic Congress, ADC, were yesterday locked in a verbalwar over claims credited to the latter’s Vice President candidate, Rotimi Amaechi, that his mother’s death should be blamed on the unfriendly economic policies of President Bola Tinubu’s government.
Recall that Amaechi had in a television interview on Friday, said the rising cost of medicines made it increasingly difficult for him to provide the drugs his mother needed to save her life.
But APC in a reaction yesterday, declared that Amaechi was incapable of earning a living outside public office.
ADC, however, criticised APC over its attack on Amaechi, saying a mother’s death was no political material.
Mary Amaechi, died on July 16, 2026, at 89.
APC in a statement by the National Publicity Secretary, Felix Morka, said Amaechi’s statement was irresponsible.
“For four decades, Rotimi Amaechi freeloaded at the highest levels of public office. 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 statement said.
It listed his record as a two-term speaker of Rivers State House of Assembly, two-term governor, two-term Minister of Transportation and former presidential aspirant.
The APC added: “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 also accused him of using his vice presidential bid as a route back to public funds, saying “the same Rotimi Amaechi now asks Nigerians to make him vice president come 2027 so he can continue leeching on public treasury and keep the predatory lifestyle he has grown accustomed to.’’
The statement had earlier opened with condolences to Amaechi over the death of his mother, Dame Ezinne Mary Oduah Amaechi and then offered a wish forAmaechi’a future.
“The All Progressives Congress, APC, prays that the soul of Dame Ezinne Mary Oduah Amaechi continues to rest in perfect peace. Amen.
“It is our sincere wish that employers of labour in his hometown of Ubima in Ikwerre Local Government Area of Rivers State may find him suitable for a job that pays wages sufficient for him to feed and buy medications for himself and his beloved family the rest of his retirement. Amen.
“The presidency is not a soup kitchen, and will not be a soup kitchen for Rotimi Amaechi. There can be no better speaker of Rotimi Amaechi’s unfitness for the office of vice president than Rotimi Amaechi himself,” APC stated.
A mother’s death is not political material, ADC fires back.
Firing back in a statement issued by Phrank Shaibu, Director of Strategic Communications of the ADC Presidential Campaign Council, PCC, the party described the APC’s response as “political cruelty” rather than an answer to the hardship facing Nigerians.
Shaibu said the death of Amaechi’s mother and his family’s grief should not be turned into material for partisan ridicule.
“A mother’s death and a family’s grief should never be turned into material for partisan ridicule. If Rotimi Amaechi says he struggled to afford his mother’s medication, the humane response is compassion.
“Shaibu said Morka’s description of Amaechi reflected what he described as the APC’s contempt for ordinary Nigerians struggling with the cost of living.
“Morka calls Amaechi a loafer for struggling outside public office. That insult says more about the APC’s contempt for ordinary people than it says about Amaechi,’’ the party stated.
The ADC-PCC said Nigerians struggling to afford treatment, electricity and transportation should not be labelled loafers.
ADC-PCC stated further: “Nigerians who cannot afford treatment, keep the lights on or travel safely on their roads are not loafers. They are citizens living through the consequences of a government that has failed them.”
Shaibu said the APC should focus on the economic and social difficulties facing Nigerians instead of attacking Amaechi.
“The reality is plain: the roads are bad, the economy is bad, electricity is bad, security is bad and the welfare of the people is bad.
“Tinubu’s name is increasingly associated with poverty, insecurity and hardship. No amount of mockery can make those conditions disappear,” the campaign council said.
It said the performance of a government should be measured by whether citizens could live safely, afford medical treatment and earn a decent living.
“The test of government is not how viciously its spokesmen can insult their opponents. It is whether people can live safely, afford treatment and earn a decent living. On that test, Tinubu’s government has failed,” ADC-PCC said.
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