Umar Ardo Says He, Not Amaechi, Proposed Forming the APC

Former APC chief Umar Ardo said he was the one who conceived the idea of forming the party for late President Muhammadu Buhari’s 2015 campaign.

During an interview on Arise Television on Tuesday, Ardo rejected former Minister of Transportation Rotimi Amaechi’s claim that he had secured Buhari’s presidency.

“No single person can claim to have made somebody president,” Ardo said. “It would need a large number of people and groups, but every idea starts with a single person, and the idea to form the APC was mine.”

Daily Post reports that Amaechi had previously asserted that he fought all the battles that led to Buhari’s 2015 victory.

Ardo added that before the 2011 general elections, Buhari had stated he would not run again if he lost, and he did lose. “I personally went to him and asked him to contest again,” Ardo recalled. “I told him the reason he had not won elections is that he had never gone outside the North to campaign. You need one zone in the South to win an election.”

He explained that securing the Southwest required the support of then‑Vice President Bola Tinubu. “In 2011, Tinubu wanted to be Vice President but they went and brought Pastor Tunde Bakare. With that, Tinubu went ahead and had some consultation with former Goodluck Jonathan and supported him.”

Ardo noted that even though Buhari had said he would not go to the tribunal, he urged him to do so in order to keep his political flag flying.