Amaechi Claims Credit For Ex-President Buhari’s 2015 Victory, Downplays Tinubu’s Role

Former Rivers State governor and iimmediate-past Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi, has claimed that he, and not President Bola Tinubu, played the decisive role in the emergence of late former President Muhammadu Buhari in the 2015 presidential election.

Amaechi made the remarks during an interview on ARISE News Channel’s Prime Time show on Friday, where he addressed repeated claims by Tinubu that Buhari would not have become president without his political backing.

Tinubu had repeatedly stated during the buildup to the 2023 presidential election that he was instrumental in Buhari’s victory and deserved the presidency in return.

Reacting to the claims, Amaechi said he deliberately avoided publicly challenging Tinubu while serving in Buhari’s cabinet to protect his position as minister.

“When we decided to form the APC, while I was a minister, (Tinubu) was claiming he made Buhari president, and I couldn’t respond because I was a minister under President Buhari. That would have been suicidal because Buhari could fire you,” Amaechi said.

The former minister insisted that Tinubu’s claim was inaccurate, arguing that he spearheaded much of the groundwork that led to Buhari’s victory.

“So I couldn’t have said, ‘You are wrong.’ He didn’t make President Buhari president. Not only was I the DG of the campaign, but everybody will bear witness that I did all the battle,” he stated.

“I led the Governors’ Forum, criss-crossed the country fighting here and there trying to get Nigerians to know that this is the time for change.”

Recall that Amaechi served as Director-General of Buhari’s presidential campaigns in both 2015 and 2019 elections and was one of the leading figures in the coalition of opposition forces that formed the All Progressives Congress (APC).

He also played a prominent role in the 2013 and 2014 defections of several Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) governors to APC. This political realignment strengthened the APC ahead of the 2015 elections and ultimately ended the PDP’s 16-year hold on power under former President Goodluck Jonathan.

Despite Amaechi’s claims, Tinubu was widely recognised as a central figure in the merger of opposition parties, including his former Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), which culminated in the formation of the APC and Buhari’s eventual victory.

Amaechi’s comments came as he intensified consultations ahead of the 2027 presidential election under the African Democratic Congress (ADC) coalition platform.

The former governor has recently emerged as one of the prominent voices criticising the Tinubu administration, particularly over worsening economic hardship and governance challenges in the country.