- Amaechi accused INEC of aiding APC to hijack the electoral process ahead of 2027 general elections.
- He called for a national movement that allows ordinary Nigerians to seize power themselves.
The former minister of transportation, Rt. Hon. Rotimi Amaechi, has resigned from the All Progressives Congress (APC).
Amaechi, who served as governor of Rivers State and was a key figure in the APC-led government, made the revelation on Wednesday in Abuja.
Speaking after the unveiling of the interim executive of the African Democratic Congress, ADC, Amaechi said he formally quit the party on Tuesday night.
“I left APC last night. I never attended one meeting, last time they invited me I warned them I said, if you invite me to any meeting anymore… In fact, I was surprised that I wasn’t even expelled because I warned them in writing, don’t even invite me to any meeting.
“You can’t be in a club where majority of people are stealing and you don’t say anything,” he stated.
Amaechi said the country was in a state of total collapse and required more than just a government change.
“No, it’s not about changing the government, if it is about changing the government, there is no need of changing the government, it’s about changing Nigeria,” he said.
He accused the APC and the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, of attempting to hijack the 2027 elections.
“Nigeria is completely destroyed. People can’t eat. People can’t buy food. There’s no money to buy food.
Everything is gone. Inflation is at its peak. And the federal government is busy going around trying to hijack the election. INEC is helping them to hijack the election,” Amaechi alleged.
He said what Nigeria needs now is not just a political party, but a national movement.
“No, no, no. What must happen here is that we must start not just a party, but a movement, it must be a movement that brings in Nigerians to on their own take over government, not us,” he said.
When asked why he refused to support the current administration despite serving under it, Amaechi said he had never believed President Bola Tinubu was fit to lead Nigeria.
“I have never believed that Tinubu is a material to govern the country, I have never, because now, people want (Muhammadu) Buhari to come back,” he said.
He stated that worsening conditions under Tinubu’s watch had made Buhari’s government appear better in retrospect.
“People are asking for Buhari because things were better during Buhari’s administration. Dollar was I think ₦460 or five hundred and something now a dollar is one thousand five hundred and eighty, that is more than one hundred percent,” he said.
Reacting to suggestions that the exchange rate might be a deliberate policy, he dismissed such logic as anti-people.
He said: “Whether it’s a deliberate government policy or not, any government that does not take into consideration the people you are governing is not a policy. President Tinubu said he is not here to make Nigerians happy.”
When asked if his comments stemmed from personal ambition, Amaechi said he was entitled to aspire.
“I have the right to be ambitious, I am not over ambitious,” he said.