Former Minister of Transportation and two-term governor of Rivers State, Rotimi Amaechi, has disclosed why he refused to support or vote for President Bola Tinubu during the 2023 presidential election, citing concerns over leadership capacity.
Amaechi made the revelation during a public lecture held in Abuja on Saturday commemorate his 60th birthday anniversary. The event, themed “Weaponisation of Poverty,” drew a high-profile audience, including 16th Emir of Kano, Muhammadu Sanusi II, Nobel Laureate Prof. Wole Soyinka, former Kaduna State governor Nasir El-Rufai, Bayelsa State governor Douye Diri, former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, and Cardinal John Onaiyekan, among other dignitaries.
In a frank and unsparing speech, Amaechi said, “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 the APC or PDP, that is because I was convinced that there was an issue of capacity.”
The former minister also criticised the political culture of voting along religious and ethnic lines, arguing that such tendencies have contributed significantly to Nigeria’s stagnation.
“Nigeria is where it is today because many Nigerians have been voting on a religious and ethnic basis,” he stated. “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 challenged the perception that Nigeria’s problems stemmed from its leaders and elite class, instead laying the blame at the feet of the populace.
“Nigerian leaders and elites are not the problem of Nigeria; the problem of Nigeria is the followers,” he said. “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.”
The former governor recounted a moment of disillusionment during his tenure as Minister of Transportation, citing the case of a subordinate that disappointed him.
“I was ashamed of one of my appointees when I was the Minister of Transport. I appointed her to improve and turn things around. Unfortunately, she was more interested in speaking Hausa/Fulani to the President.”
Addressing national unity, Amaechi dismissed narratives that ordinary Nigerians were divided along religious lines.
“An ordinary northerner who is a Muslim has no problem with the ordinary southerner who is a Christian. It is when they come to elections, they will tell you. 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.”
