Former Minister of Transportation and ex-Rivers State Governor, Rotimi Amaechi, has opened up about the circumstances surrounding his defeat by President Bola Tinubu in the All Progressives Congress (APC) presidential primary in 2022, blaming his decision to trust the late President Muhammadu Buhari for his political setback.

Amaechi disclosed that Buhari had privately assured him of support for the APC presidential ticket ahead of the party’s June 2022 convention but advised him against campaigning or engaging in political negotiations with delegates and influential party stakeholders.

According to the former governor, he relied heavily on Buhari’s promise, believing that the former president’s endorsement would be enough to secure his emergence as the party’s presidential candidate.

Amaechi made the revelations during an interview on The Situation Room, a programme aired on Mainland 98.3FM in Lagos on Friday.

Recalling his conversation with the late president, Amaechi described his decision to follow Buhari’s advice as the biggest mistake he made during the presidential contest.

“The first mistake that I made at that primary was that I listened to President Buhari. He said to me, ‘Don’t campaign. Don’t do anything. I will announce you as my candidate.’

“He told me that. He put it in writing. When I write my book, I’ll put it out,” Amaechi said.

The former minister explained that Buhari’s assurance convinced him that he had a clear path to securing the party’s presidential ticket, making him less inclined to participate in the political negotiations and alliances that typically determine the outcome of party primaries.

However, Amaechi admitted that his refusal to negotiate with governors and other powerful party figures significantly weakened his chances of defeating Tinubu.

He suggested that he might have secured victory had he offered influential party stakeholders political positions in exchange for their support.

According to him, the political arrangements he avoided became an advantage for Tinubu, who successfully built alliances ahead of the convention.

“Now, I didn’t do deals. So I would have promised you vice-president, promised you SGF, and then would have gone for this primary, I would have possibly won. I would have had governors on my side.

“Because I didn’t do deals, Tinubu had the chance to do deals,” he stated.

Beyond the political negotiations, Amaechi also alleged that religious sentiments played a significant role in shaping the outcome of the 2022 APC presidential primary.

He claimed that supporters of Tinubu appealed to religious considerations to attract support from delegates, particularly in the northern part of the country.

The former governor alleged that a group of Yoruba Muslims from the Southwest approached governors in the Northwest, urging them to support Tinubu on the basis of shared religious identity.

Amaechi also mentioned former Kaduna State Governor, Nasir El-Rufai, whom he claimed initially supported his presidential ambition before eventually aligning with Tinubu.

“El-Rufai was my supporter. El-Rufai, in a viral video, said this is done for the faith,” he recalled.

Despite alleging that religious considerations influenced the outcome of the presidential primary, Amaechi maintained that he would not adopt religion as a political mobilisation strategy.

The former Rivers governor said he believed Nigeria needed leadership that prioritised national unity rather than exploiting religious affiliations for political advantage.

He warned that encouraging Nigerians to support political candidates simply because they shared the same faith could deepen existing divisions and create unnecessary tensions across the country.

Amaechi illustrated his position by referring to Nigeria’s Catholic population, arguing that he would never ask religious leaders to mobilise members of their congregation to vote for him solely because of their shared religious identity.

“I wouldn’t want to run that kind of federation. Catholics are 35 million in Nigeria. I wouldn’t want to go to the Catholic Church and say, please announce me. Tell them that all Catholics must go out and vote Amaechi.

“It will cause confusion. It will cause problems in the country. That makes me a nationalist,” he said.

Amaechi, who has since emerged as the vice-presidential candidate of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), made the revelations while reflecting on the political decisions and alliances that shaped his failed attempt to secure the APC presidential ticket in 2022.

His account has offered a fresh insight into the internal political calculations, personal assurances, power negotiations and religious considerations surrounding one of Nigeria’s most consequential political contests.