Nigerian literary icon, Wole Soyinka, has hailed former Governor of Rivers State, Chibuike Amaechi for refusing to step down for Bola Tinubu during the All Progressives Congress, APC presidential primary election in 2022.
Soyinka spoke in Abuja on Saturday at the 60th birthday celebration of Amaechi, who served as governor of Rivers state from 2007 to 2015.
The playwright said he was particularly moved by Amaechi’s defiance at the primary election, which he followed live from Abu Dhabi.
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“The main reason why I had to be here today — it’s first of all that I admire Rotimi Amaechi’s fighting spirit,” he said.
“And it’s a very consistent one, but the most memorable for me — because I watched this event live on TV all the way from Abu Dhabi.
“I wanted to see the drama of all the primaries going on during the election. I wasn’t really here but I said I want to watch this contest and I’m glad I did.”
Soyinka said Amaechi’s decision to stay in the race was reminiscent of Tinubu’s defiance of former President Olusegun Obasanjo’s administration.
“Let me explain this. For somebody we knew as the last man standing when he fought to a standstill, a former president who was manoeuvring himself into a position of changing the constitution and obtaining a third term,” he said.
“He keeps denying it but he and I know for a fact and so do others. And towards that goal, he was sort of emasculating the powers of the constituent elements of the federation.
“And by the end, this president was the last man standing, resisted that effort. All the others had sort of cowed down because their statutory allocation had been stopped — contrary to the constitution.
“But one man — he was the last man standing. Well, he obtained a dose of his own medicine from Rotimi Amaechi during the primaries. I enjoyed that very much.
“While everybody was, you know, falling over one another conceding, there was one individual who got on the podium and he said no, I’m not conceding.
“I didn’t come all the way here to commit ‘lúlẹ̀’. And that man was Rotimi Amaechi. And I said this is what democracy is all about.”
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Amaechi was among the over 20 members of the APC that battled for the sole presidential ticket of the ruling party prior to the 2023 presidential election.
While many others stepped down and backed Tinubu for the ticket, Amaechi, former Vice president, Yemi Osinbajo, Pastor Tunde Bakare and former Governor of Imo State, Rochas Okorocha were some of the aspirants that stood to the end.
Tinubu polled 1,271 votes to defeat other presidential hopefuls in the primary election.