Soyinka praises amaechi for giving tinubu a dose of his own medicine

Nobel laureate, Professor Wole Soyinka, has complimented former Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi, for his stance during the All Progressives Congress (APC) presidential primaries in 2022, calling it as a daring refusal to step aside for then-candidate Bola Tinubu.

While commemorating Amaechi's 60th birthday in Abuja on Saturday, Soyinka said these things. From 2007 to 2015, Amaechi was the governor of Rivers State.

The dramatist, who watched the primary election live from Abu Dhabi, claimed that Amaechi's disobedience stood out to him in particular.

"The primary reason I had to be here today is that I respect Rotimi Amaechi's will to persevere," Soyinka stated.

“And it’s a very consistent one, but the most memorable for me, because I watched this event live on TV from Abu Dhabi. I wanted to see the drama of all the primaries going on during the election. I wasn’t here, but I said I wanted to watch this contest, and I’m glad I did. Because it gave me a great—most malicious pleasure, rascally if you like, pleasure—to—to see the incumbent president being given a dose of his own medicine.”

Amaechi's choice to stay in the race was compared by Soyinka to Tinubu's own history of political disobedience under Olusegun Obasanjo.

"Let me explain this," he said. A former president who was maneuvering himself into a position where he might change the constitution and win a third term was the last guy remaining when he fought to the end. Despite his repeated denials, he, I, and others are certain of it. And in order to achieve that, he was essentially weakening the authority of the federation's component parts.

"And this president was the last man standing and resisted that effort," he added.

In violation of the Constitution, their statutory allocation had been halted, therefore all the others had kind of backed down. One man, nevertheless, was the last one left. Rotimi Amaechi gave him a dose of his own medicine during the primaries, though. I really liked that.

While the majority of the contenders were giving up, Amaechi refused to back down, Soyinka continued. As everyone was, you know, tripping over each other and giving up, one person stood up on the podium and declared, "No, I'm not giving up. My purpose for coming here was not to commit "lúl??." Rotimi Amaechi was the man in question. And this is what democracy is all about, I said.

Bola Tinubu defeated 13 other candidates with 1,271 votes in the APC primary election. With 316 votes, Amaechi came in second, followed by Yemi Osinbajo, the vice president at the time, with 235 votes.