APC attacks Amaechi over account of financial hardship after mother’s death

Nigeria’s All Progressives Congress has launched a personal political attack on Rotimi Amaechi after the former Rivers State governor said he could not afford medication for his late mother, Mary Oduah Amaechi. The APC argued that the disclosure undermined his suitability to become vice-president, according to Premium Times and Punch Nigeria. Amaechi, a former two-term governor and transportation minister, is the African Democratic Congress’s vice-presidential candidate for the 2027 general election.

The APC’s response was issued on Sunday by its National Publicity Secretary, Felix Morka. Morka expressed condolences over the death of Amaechi’s mother, who Premium Times said died in July at the age of 89, but then criticised the opposition figure’s reported financial circumstances. The party said Amaechi’s inability to pay for treatment was difficult to reconcile with his decades in senior public positions.

The APC also referred to an earlier comment attributed to Amaechi on Channels Television in which he reportedly said he had become so financially constrained that his wife was feeding him. The party presented the two statements as evidence that he had become dependent on public office after leaving government. Morka said Amaechi had held public positions for roughly four decades and questioned how he could be unable to support himself and his family only three years after leaving office.

The APC described him as unproductive outside government and accused him of seeking the vice presidency to regain access to public resources. In its statement, the party suggested sarcastically that employers in Amaechi’s hometown of Ubima, in Ikwerre Local Government Area of Rivers State, should find him work that paid enough to meet his household expenses. It also said the presidency should not be treated as a source of personal financial support.

The remarks form part of the wider political contest ahead of 2027. Premium Times described the ADC as an emerging opposition platform bringing together figures seeking to challenge President Bola Tinubu and the APC. Amaechi’s personal account of hardship has consequently become a point of attack for the ruling party.

The reports record the APC’s allegations and characterisation of Amaechi, but do not include a response from him or the ADC. They also do not independently establish the cause of his mother’s death, the extent of his financial situation or whether he has sought public office for the reasons alleged by the APC. The party’s comments therefore remain political claims made in response to statements attributed to its opponent.