A leading chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Chief Eze Chukwuemeka Eze, has taken a swipe at President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, accusing him and his media handlers of attempting to distort the true history of APC’s rise to power and the emergence of Muhammadu Buhari as president in 2015.
Reacting to comments credited to Temitope Ajayi, Special Assistant to President Tinubu on Media and Publicity, Chief Eze rejected claims that Tinubu was the mastermind of Buhari’s victory, describing the statement as “false, arrogant, and historically dishonest.”
In a strongly worded press release, Eze stated: “President Tinubu is not God. The assertion that he made Buhari president is a deliberate distortion. Buhari was on the brink of losing the APC primary in 2014 until Rt. Hon. Rotimi Amaechi stepped in, rallied support, raised funds, and provided the strategic leadership that turned the tide.”
Chief Eze, a member of the APC Legacy Projects Media Team and former National Publicity Secretary of the now-defunct nPDP, recounted how Amaechi took enormous personal and political risks to galvanize support across Nigeria, serving as the Director-General of the APC Presidential Campaign Council.
He accused Tinubu of holding a long-standing grudge against Amaechi for opposing the idea of a Muslim-Muslim ticket in 2015, which led to the emergence of Professor Yemi Osinbajo as Buhari’s running mate instead of Tinubu.
“Since then, Tinubu has never forgiven Amaechi. He blocked Amaechi from key appointments in Buhari’s government and worked behind the scenes to sideline him from strategic roles,” Eze said, describing Tinubu’s actions as “politics of vengeance.”
Eze further alleged that Tinubu is using former Rivers State Governor and current Minister, Nyesom Wike, to destabilize Amaechi’s political stronghold in Rivers State as part of a broader plan to weaken any future political challenge.
According to Eze, “What Tinubu is doing through Wike in Rivers State is no coincidence. It’s part of his mission to erase Amaechi’s legacy and prevent him from re-emerging in 2027.”
The APC chieftain insisted that without Amaechi’s intervention, Buhari’s 12 million northern votes would not have been enough, noting that the South-South and South-East push led by Amaechi was the tipping point for victory.
He also recalled Tinubu’s own public praise for Amaechi in 2015 during the launch of Dynamics of Change: The Amaechi Years, where Tinubu hailed him as the “General” of the “Common Sense Revolution.”
“But today, history is being twisted to suit Tinubu’s ego. Let it be clear—Amaechi unseated a sitting president in 2015, and with God’s help, he can do it again in 2027. That is his hallmark,” Eze declared.
He concluded by warning Tinubu's media aides to stop peddling “propaganda rooted in sycophancy,” and urged Nigerians not to forget those who truly birthed the APC revolution.
“This campaign of erasure and ingratitude will only backfire. Nigerians remember who stood firm when it mattered most. That man was Amaechi,” Eze said.