Former Minister of Transportation and presidential aspirant of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), Rotimi Amaechi, on Thursday, pledged to transform Nigeria within four years if elected in the 2027 general election.
Amaechi made the promise shortly after submitting his nomination forms at the national headquarters of the ADC in Abuja, where he also took a swipe at the administration of President Bola Tinubu, blaming it for the country’s worsening economic hardship.
The former Rivers State governor said the 2027 election should be based on competence, experience and performance rather than ethnic or regional sentiments.
“What Nigerians should do is assess all of us who are running for office based on our records,” he said.
“Nearly everybody who is running for the office of the president has served Nigeria in one way or another. Let this be a referendum. If you have performed, whoever has outperformed the other, vote for the person.”
Amaechi argued that his years in public office had prepared him for the task of leading the country, citing his tenure as governor and later as Minister of Transportation under former President Muhammadu Buhari.
“The next thing is, who is capable of delivering the votes? Who is capable of beating the incumbent? Who has the experience? I believe I am the most experienced.
“I am young, I am the most experienced, and I believe I have the capacity. Go back to Rivers State and see what I have done. Go back to the Ministry of Transportation and see what I have done, and assess it and see whether I can turn the country around. And I will, in four years, turn the country around,” he declared.
Amaechi, who served as governor of Rivers State from 2007 to 2015, was a key figure in the formation of the All Progressives Congress and later served as Director-General of late President Muhammadu Buhari’s 2015 campaign council.
As Minister of Transportation between 2015 and 2023, he oversaw major railway projects, including the Abuja-Kaduna and Lagos-Ibadan rail lines, although critics questioned the rising debt associated with some of the infrastructure projects.
Speaking on the state of the nation, the former minister criticised what he described as the growing hardship under the Tinubu administration, saying Nigerians were bearing the brunt of economic policies that had worsened living conditions.
“Nigerians should vote for merit, not vote for those who say, ‘I’m from this place’ or ‘it is our turn.’
“It is the ‘Emilokan’ mentality that brought us here. It is our turn that brought us here. Now Nigerians are suffering,” he said.
According to him, the country’s economic realities cut across religious and ethnic divides.
“There is no market for Christians, nor is there a market for Muslims, nor a market for northerners or southerners. The market has only one purpose — the naira. Nigerians are suffering.
“The current president has put us in this suffering. I don’t know why he wants to run again. I don’t even know why the APC wants to participate. They should be ashamed and allow other Nigerians to participate and change the country,” Amaechi added.
On the forthcoming ADC presidential primaries, Amaechi said he preferred a direct primary process but would accept a consensus arrangement if it favoured him.
“I’m going for primary. If the consensus is me, fine. But if it’s not me, I’m going for primary,” he said.
Amaechi’s declaration comes amid increasing political realignments ahead of the 2027 elections, with opposition parties seeking to build stronger coalitions capable of challenging the ruling APC.
The ADC has recently attracted several high-profile politicians positioning themselves ahead of the next electoral cycle, as debates over economic reforms, insecurity and governance continue to dominate the political landscape.
Although the party had, in recent weeks, lost prominent figures to the Nigeria Democratic Congress, including ex-presidential candidates Peter Obi and Rabiu Kwankwaso.
The PUNCH