Senator Ali Ndume, the federal lawmaker representing Borno South, has explained the cause of the conflict between President Bola Tinubu and former Minister of Transportation Rotimi Amaechi.

Amaechi was one of the aspirants who contested the presidential primary of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) against Tinubu in 2023. 

Tinubu won the primary with 1,271 votes, while Amaechi came second with 315 votes. 

Two years into Tinubu’s government, Amaechi, who has been critical of the President’s administration, is now moving in the opposite direction to join opposition politicians to form a coalition against Tinubu’s government. 

Speaking during an interview on Arise Television on Tuesday, Ndume, who was Amaechi’s campaign Director-General for the 2023 election, said the former minister became critical of Tinubu’s government after the President abandoned him.

According to him, after the election, the President reached out to him and Amaechi, seeking their cooperation, and agreed to hold a meeting to discuss this with him, but the meeting was never held.

“Tinubu called me to say he wants to come and meet with myself, Amaechi. So we agreed. And at that time, I remember I was to go for Hajj, and so the President said we want to you to come on board and let’s work together and we agreed that we will meet after I come back, and that meeting did not hold, that was how they abandoned Amaechi,” Ndume disclosed.

Ndume said even after Amaechi lost the APC primary to Tinubu, he still worked for him to ensure his victory in the 2023 presidential election.

“Amaechi worked for the President. I can tell you that. He was part of the Presidential Campaign Council (PCC),” he said.

Vanguard News