APC mocks Rotimi Amaechi as ‘loafer’ after he links mother’s death to Tinubu’s policies

 

ABUJA, October 4, 2026 — The ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) on Sunday launched a scathing attack on Rotimi Amaechi, the African Democratic Congress (ADC) vice-presidential candidate, branding the former Rivers State governor a “loafer” who has struggled to survive outside public office after he blamed President Bola Tinubu’s economic policies for the death of his mother.

In a press statement signed by National Publicity Secretary Felix Morka and shared by Bayo Onanuga, Special Adviser on Information and Strategy to the President, the APC offered prayers for the repose of Dame Ezinne Mary Oduah Amaechi (also referred to as Mary Amaechi), who died on July 16, 2026, at the age of 89. It then turned sharply critical of her son.

“We also pray for excellent health of mind and body for her son, Rotimi Chibuike Amaechi… who could not afford medications for his mother’s treatment,” the statement said. It expressed hope that employers in Amaechi’s hometown of Ubima in Ikwerre Local Government Area of Rivers State would find him a job paying enough “to feed and buy medications for himself and his beloved family for the rest of his retirement.”

The APC referenced Amaechi’s recent television comments and an earlier reported claim of financial hardship. “Rotimi Amaechi’s uncanny confessions must not be missed. First, he howled that he had become so broke and hungry that his wife was now feeding him. Now, he has stated that his inability to afford medications killed his mother at 89,” it said.

The party contrasted Amaechi’s long public-service career with his alleged current difficulties: “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… 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.”

It concluded that Amaechi’s own words demonstrated his unfitness for the vice presidency in 2027, declaring: “The presidency is not a soup kitchen and will not be a soup kitchen for Rotimi Amaechi.”

Amaechi’s television remarks

Amaechi, 61, made the comments during an interview on Channels Television’s Politics Today on Friday, October 2. He attributed difficulties in obtaining his mother’s medication to the rising cost of living under Tinubu’s administration, particularly following the removal of the petrol subsidy and broader economic reforms.

“The policies Tinubu introduced are killing people. I lost my mother because of the policies… President Tinubu’s policies killed my mother,” he said. “Before Tinubu became President, my mother was healthy. Suddenly, when Tinubu came, it became difficult to buy drugs for my mother. I did the best I could in taking care of my mother.” He linked the situation to wider hardships faced by many Nigerians struggling with healthcare costs.

Political background and rival’s response

Amaechi has held senior positions for much of Nigeria’s Fourth Republic. Born on May 27, 1965, in Ubima, Rivers State, he served as Speaker of the Rivers State House of Assembly from 1999 to 2007, Governor of Rivers State from 2007 to 2015, and Minister of Transportation under President Muhammadu Buhari from 2015 to 2022. He left the APC after an unsuccessful presidential bid in the party’s 2023 primaries and later joined the ADC, where he was named running mate to former Vice President Atiku Abubakar for the 2027 election.

The APC statement followed an earlier broadside from Federal Capital Territory Minister Nyesom Wike, Amaechi’s long-time political rival and successor as Rivers governor. Speaking on Saturday in Rivers State, Wike dismissed the claim that Tinubu’s policies caused the death, questioning how a former speaker, two-term governor and two-term minister could not afford medication. He noted that Amaechi had described his wife as an industrialist and pointed to wealthy associates who attended the burial with private jets, asking why help was not sought while she was alive.

Opposition reaction

The ADC Presidential Campaign Council hit back quickly. Phrank Shaibu, its Director of Strategic Communications, described the APC statement as “a display of political cruelty” that turned a family’s grief into partisan ridicule. He argued that the humane response to reported struggles with medication costs would be compassion, and that the political response should focus on why millions of Nigerians cannot afford medicines, food or basic necessities.

“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,” Shaibu said. He listed poor roads, a struggling economy, unreliable electricity, insecurity and declining welfare as evidence of the Tinubu government’s failures, insisting that mockery would not erase those conditions.

The exchange underscores the intensifying political temperature ahead of the 2027 general elections, with personal circumstances and economic hardship becoming sharp points of attack between the ruling party and the opposition.