APC Mocks Amaechi Over Mother’s Medical Bills, Questions His Fitness for ADC VP Ticket

The All Progressives Congress (APC) has launched a scathing attack on former Rivers State Governor and African Democratic Congress (ADC) vice presidential candidate Rotimi Amaechi following his claim that the economic policies of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s administration contributed to the death of his mother by making her medication unaffordable.

In a statement issued on Sunday and signed by its National Publicity Secretary, Felix Morka, the ruling party questioned Amaechi’s suitability for the vice-presidential ticket ahead of the 2027 general elections, while mocking his reported financial difficulties.

The APC began by expressing condolences over the death of Amaechi’s mother, Dame Ezinne Mary Oduah Amaechi, and wishing the former governor good health.

The statement, however, quickly turned into a political attack on the former minister.

APC Mocks Amaechi Over Financial Claims

The party sarcastically suggested that Amaechi should seek employment in his hometown of Ubima, Ikwerre Local Government Area of Rivers State, arguing that he needed a job capable of providing enough income to support himself and his family.

“We also pray for excellent health of mind and body for her son, Rotimi Chibuike Amaechi, a former two-term Speaker of the Rivers State House of Assembly, two-term Governor, two-term Minister of Transportation, former presidential aspirant, and currently the vice presidential candidate of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), who could not afford medications for his mother’s treatment,” the APC said.

“It is our sincere wish that employers of labour in his hometown of Ubima in Ikwerre Local Government Area of Rivers State may find him suitable for a job that pays wages sufficient for him to feed and buy medications for himself and his beloved family for the rest of his retirement. Amen.”

The ruling party also referred to previous remarks attributed to Amaechi concerning his personal finances, claiming that he had previously complained about becoming financially constrained to the point that his wife was supporting him.

The APC said Amaechi had now connected his mother’s death at the age of 89 to his inability to afford her medication.

“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,” the party said.

‘Four Decades’ in Public Office

The APC then turned its criticism to Amaechi’s political career, arguing that his decades in government should have enabled him to establish a sustainable livelihood outside public office.

“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,” the party alleged.

“Just three years out of office, he has become destitute, unable to fend for himself and his loved ones.”

The ruling party went further, describing Amaechi as a “loafer, aimless and irresponsible” if his financial difficulties were not the result of what it called “some kind of Peter Pan syndrome.”

The claims were part of a broader political attack on Amaechi rather than an independently established assessment of his financial circumstances.

APC Questions Amaechi’s 2027 Ambition

The APC also accused Amaechi of seeking the ADC vice-presidential nomination as a means of returning to government and benefiting from public resources.

“The same Rotimi Amaechi now asks Nigerians to make him vice president come 2027 so he can continue leeching on the public treasury and keep the predatory lifestyle he has grown accustomed to,” the party said.

It concluded with a direct attack on his suitability for the ticket.

“The presidency is not a soup kitchen and will not be a soup kitchen for Rotimi Amaechi,” the APC said.

It added: “No one can speak more to Rotimi Amaechi’s unfitness for the office of Vice President than Rotimi Amaechi himself.”

Amaechi Blames Tinubu’s Economic Policies

Amaechi’s comments that triggered the APC’s response were made during an interview on Channels Television’s Politics Today.

The former governor alleged that the economic policies implemented under Tinubu contributed to the circumstances surrounding his mother’s death by making essential medication increasingly difficult to afford.

Amaechi was quoted as saying, “Tinubu’s policies killed my mother.”

He claimed that his mother had been in good health before 2023 but that the rising cost of medicines following the change in administration made it increasingly difficult to maintain her treatment.

Amaechi used his personal experience to criticise the broader economic impact of inflation and rising living costs, arguing that ordinary Nigerians are struggling to afford basic healthcare.

The former governor’s comments have therefore become part of the wider political battle ahead of 2027, with the APC portraying his remarks as evidence of his alleged personal shortcomings, while Amaechi is using the experience to attack the economic consequences of the Tinubu administration.

The emerging confrontation highlights how personal hardship, healthcare costs and the cost of living crisis are increasingly becoming political weapons as rival parties position themselves ahead of the 2027 presidential election.