The Presidency and Edo State chapter of the All Progressives Congress, on Thursday, described the African Democratic Congress vice-presidential candidate, Rotimi Amaechi, as a burden on the ticket of former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, over his comment that only “mad people” would vote for President Bola Tinubu in the 2027 presidential election.

Amaechi, a former governor of Rivers State, remarked on Thursday at an ADC town hall meeting in Benin, Edo State, where he urged Edo voters not to support Tinubu in next year’s election.

The meeting was attended by party leaders, candidates, supporters and other dignitaries, where the party presented its vision for Edo State and Nigeria ahead of the 2027 elections.

He said that only thieves could canvass for votes for Tinubu, adding that “They are going about saying, vote Tinubu, vote Tinubu; only thieves will vote for Tinubu.

“In fact, I read on social media that it is in 2027 that we will know how many mad men we have in Nigeria because it is only a mad man that can vote for Tinubu.

“If Edo People vote for Tinubu, that means Edo people are mad. If you are not mad, Tinubu should not win here.”

Reacting, the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Mr Temitope Ajayi, in an interview with our correspondent on Thursday evening, said Amaechi, a former Rivers State governor, was “a known careless and irresponsible talker” and “not a serious politician.”

He said, “Somebody who weaponised the death of his own mother, there is no extent such a person cannot go in uttering balderdash and gibberish.

“He’s not somebody that is known to be prudent in whatever he says or in his utterances.”

The presidential aide said anyone who “can violate and desecrate the memory of his own mother cannot be taken seriously,” alleging that Amaechi did so “just to play politics.”

He also questioned Amaechi’s claim, alleging that the former governor had spent heavily on his family’s welfare and on his mother’s burial.

“A man who paid thousands of pounds on his daughter’s university education in the UK, who spent tens of millions of naira on himself, and even spent tens of millions of naira on the same woman’s funeral, is telling us that it is because of Tinubu’s policy that he couldn’t buy medication, that his mother died because he couldn’t buy medication. That was a ridiculous statement anybody could make,” he argued.

Describing the former minister’s electoral record, Ajayi challenged Amaechi’s political credentials as Director-General of former President Muhammadu Buhari’s campaign.

According to Ajayi, “He was DG of Buhari’s campaign two times, but we didn’t get 10 per cent of votes in Rivers State. So he didn’t even know how Buhari won the election in 2015 and 2019. So he just kept blabbing and puffing himself up.”

He argued that if a 25 per cent spread in Rivers State had been required for Buhari to win, as the Constitution and the Electoral Act stipulate for two-thirds of the states, the former president would have lost both elections.

“So what is his electoral value?” he asked, stating, “He’s actually a burden on Atiku’s ticket. We really don’t even know why Atiku or the ADC will make such a political lightweight a VP candidate, because he brings no value to Atiku’s ticket.

“He cannot deliver Rivers State; he won’t deliver Rivers State. He can’t deliver South-South, his region. Somebody who probably will not be able to deliver his own polling unit, not to talk of his own ward. So, of what value is he?” Ajayi said.

The Edo APC Publicity Secretary, Peter Uwadiae-Igbinigie, also dismissed Amaechi’s comment as trivial and said the people of Edo State would determine their choice at the polls.

Uwadiae-Igbinigie said Edo voters were “not mad,” adding that they had become politically sophisticated enough to make informed choices during elections.

He said Amaechi was entitled to his opinion, adding that, “It’s not all statements that we must react to. If he likes, let him say that Edo people are mad. It’s Edo people that will know whether they are mad or not. It’s not all statements that we must react to, honestly.

“As for me, Edo people are not mad. Edo people have learned, very seasoned people who know the choices they make during elections. They have never made any wrong choice. They voted for Governor Monday Okpebholo, and that is to tell you the level of sophistication in terms of knowledge. They have been able to separate the grain from the chaff.

“ADC is a party that is made up of the chaff. We are a very seasoned set of people. Edo people have come to like the APC as a party and the people that make up the APC.

“The kind of reforms that the Federal Government has carried out, coupled with the level of infrastructural development in Edo today, are enough to show how sophisticated Tinubu is in terms of political sagacity.

“So, the man himself is an Iroko. How can people leave an Iroko to vote for grass? ADC is made up of grass. We are made up of people of proven integrity, men who have tasted power, who have used power to change the lives of people in the country.

“So, Edo people are not mad. It’s the ADC people, selectively, who are mad. Check the people who are their leaders. They are spent forces within the political arena,” he said.

The party spokesman insisted that Edo people would vote massively for Tinubu, who, he said, they had promised 2.5 million votes.

“The people are happy that Okpebholo is developing Edo, and the only way they can say thank you is to vote for Tinubu, because they know that the resources we are using in Edo are coming from the Federal Government,” he said.