During a public lecture celebrating his 60th birthday, former Rivers State Governor and two-time Minister of Transport, Rotimi Amaechi, disclosed that he refused to vote or work for President Bola Ahmed Tinubu in the last election.
Amaechi explained his conviction that Tinubu lacked the necessary leadership capacity for Nigeria.
Amaechi stated, “I met President Tinubu in Yola and I told him I will not work for you and I will not vote for you. I told him like that. People have been saying I do not work for All People’s Congress (APC) or Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), that is because I was convinced that there was an issue of capacity.”
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The public lecture, held in Abuja with the theme “Weaponization of Poverty,” was attended by notable figures including the Emir of Kano Sule Lamido Sanusi, Professor Wole Soyinka, former Governor of Kaduna State Nasir El-Rufai, Governor of Bayelsa State Seriake Dickson, former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, Cardinal John Onaiyekan, and various traditional rulers.
In his remarks, Amaechi attributed Nigeria’s current situation to many citizens voting based on religious and ethnic affiliations.
He asserted, “Let me tell you, no Nigerian leader cares for the poor, because they know that Nigerians can do nothing to them once they are in power. When Nigerians protested, the President announced an increase in the price of fuel because they know you cannot do anything.”
Amaechi further emphasized his concern for the nation’s progress and the importance of respecting knowledgeable individuals.
He argued, “Nigerian leaders and elites are not the problem of Nigeria; the problem of Nigeria is the followers. We say Nigeria is a capitalist country, but capitalists are those who invest in production, however, Nigeria does not produce anything, we just want to feast on the revenue gotten from crude oil.”
He shared a personal anecdote, expressing shame over an appointee during his time as Minister of Transport: “I appointed her to improve and turnaround things around, unfortunately, she was more interested in speaking Hausa/Fulani to the President.”
Amaechi concluded by noting that ordinary northerners and southerners, Muslims and Christians, generally have no issues with each other until elections, when religious and ethnic sentiments are exploited. He highlighted the current widespread hunger, stating, “Now you have a Muslim-Muslim ticket. Let the Muslim-Muslim market come out now. It’s time. We are all hungry. All of us are. If you are not hungry, I am.”
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