Activist lawyer, Maduabuchi Idam, on Friday said the first runner-up in the African Democratic Congress (ADC) presidential primary, Rotimi Amaechi, should be grateful to Peter Obi for leaving the party before the primaries.
Idam said Amaechi would have ended up in third position and suffered a more humbling defeat if Obi had remained a member of the ADC and participated in the presidential primary election.
He made the remark while stating that Amaechi and former President Goodluck Jonathan should confess their greed and ingratitude to nature. Amaechi came second behind the winner and former Vice President Atiku Abubakar in the just-concluded presidential primary election.
However, in a statement he signed, the activist lawyer said: “There was no surprise in the outcome of the ADC’s presidential primaries. As anticipated, Atiku emerged as the candidate. What would truly have been surprising was Amaechi securing the ticket. Deep down, I doubt he genuinely expected victory himself, except by choosing self-deception.
Even without spending a kobo to induce delegates, Atiku’s victory would still likely have been a landslide.“It was a predictable outcome from the very beginning.
Amaechi should, in fact, be grateful to Obi for leaving the party before the primaries. Otherwise, his defeat would have been even more humbling, as he may have ended up in a distant third position.
Now, history will fairly record that he contested for the presidency twice and came second on both occasions, without necessarily capturing the context, the scores, or the circumstances surrounding those contests.
Those whom providence has favoured should never mistake grace for entitlement.They should learn to read the room and understand the rhythm of time and season.Like
Goodluck Jonathan, Amaechi appears to have enjoyed uncommon opportunities without any particularly compelling human justification. Continuing to seek higher positions beyond a certain point risks stretching favour and grace beyond their natural limits, and that can begin to resemble ingratitude.”Idam, who mocked Atiku for his persistence in seeking the presidency, said politics has become existential for the former Vice President. He added: “As for Atiku, he seems determined to keep the dice rolling against the tide of nature. For him, politics has become existential.He must remain in the race and will likely only stop when nature itself compels him to. Otherwise, every election cycle inevitably finds him as a candidate somewhere, regardless of zoning arrangements or prevailing sentiments. Whether he eventually succeeds is a question only time and destiny can answer. But Nigeria must ultimately free itself from the grip of kleptomaniacs and entrenched power brokers. Freedom has become inevitable.
