The Vice-Presidential candidate of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), Rotimi Amaechi, has urged Nigerians to look beyond ethnic considerations and vote for candidates based on performance, competence and acceptability in the 2027 general elections.
Amaechi made the call on Monday during a panel session at the ongoing Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) 2026 Annual General Conference in Port Harcourt, Rivers State.
The former Rivers State governor and Minister of Transportation said voters should resist the temptation to support political candidates merely because they share the same ethnic or geographical background.
He argued that the country’s political future would be better served if Nigerians assessed candidates based on their records and capacity to deliver good governance.
“A coalition should be based on performance. Assess us by our last performance and choose; don’t just vote because you are from Ikwerre or Omoku and choose your candidate,” Amaechi said.
He also expressed concern over the inability of opposition parties to agree on a single presidential candidate ahead of the 2027 elections, attributing the challenge largely to the personal ambitions of political leaders.
According to him, the coalition project remains difficult because many politicians are unwilling to sacrifice their individual ambitions for a broader national interest.
“Coalition as it is today is difficult to achieve. If it is possible, I am sure that Vice President Atiku Abubakar would be willing to participate.
“But the difficulty in it is that everybody has ambition. Nobody wants to give up. There are very few politicians who are in love with Nigeria. What the politicians are doing is to just come in and milk the country dry,” he said.
Amaechi, who described the ADC as a fresh political alternative, urged Nigerians to give the party an opportunity to demonstrate its capacity to provide a different style of leadership.
“ADC provides a different kind of leadership completely. If we can’t perform, don’t vote for us,” he said.