Former Minister of Transportation Rotimi Amaechi has disclosed that he privately confronted President Muhammadu Buhari over concerns that the administration was not meeting the expectations of Nigerians who voted for the All Progressives Congress (APC) in 2015. The former Rivers State governor said his disillusionment ran so deep that he eventually stopped functioning as a full-time minister, attending the ministry only on Wednesdays. He made the remarks during an interview on AIT on Wednesday night, as he campaigns against the APC ahead of the 2027 presidential election.
Amaechi’s Private Challenge to Buhari
Amaechi said he first raised his concerns directly with Buhari in a private conversation, questioning whether the government was living up to what voters had expected when they backed the APC in 2015, as reported by Premium Times. He recalled asking: “Mr President, you recall that when people were voting for us, they thought they were voting for the Buhari of 1983? Mr President, are we keeping to that expectation?”
According to Amaechi, Buhari responded by pointing out that the two situations were not comparable, noting that in 1983 he was younger and running a military government with no parliament to contend with.
The Request to Return to University
Unsatisfied with the direction of the government, Amaechi said he returned to Buhari the following day with an unusual request. “The next day, I went back to Mr President and asked, ‘Can I go to the university?’ He said, ‘Yes.’”
He said his formal application made clear that he would not be in the office on Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays, or Fridays. “That’s technically resigning from government. The only day I came to the office was Wednesdays,” he said.
Political Context and 2027 Campaign
Amaechi had been one of the most consequential figures behind Buhari’s rise to power, according to Vanguard. He served as director-general of the APC presidential campaign for the 2015 election, coordinating the effort that unseated the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in what was the first time an opposition party defeated an incumbent administration at the federal level through an election in Nigeria.
He subsequently served as transportation minister from 2015 until May 2022, when he resigned to contest the APC presidential primary ahead of the 2023 election. He finished second at that primary behind Bola Tinubu.
Amaechi’s account of his time under Buhari comes at a politically significant moment. He is now campaigning for the presidency on the African Democratic Congress (ADC) platform and was selected as running mate to former Vice President Atiku Abubakar for the 2027 election, after finishing behind Atiku in the ADC presidential primary. His remarks place his frustrations with the Buhari years at the centre of his pitch to Nigerian voters as he campaigns against the APC administration in which he previously served.
ADC Rejects Deregistration Order
Earlier, Legit.ng reported that the ADC strongly opposed a federal high court ruling directing the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to deregister the party and four others, describing the judgment as an attempt to use the judiciary to undermine Nigeria’s democratic process. In a statement, ADC national spokesperson Abdullahi condemned the ruling as unconstitutional and deeply troubling. According to the ADC, the decision runs contrary to established legal precedents and even conflicts with positions previously advanced by INEC on the issue of political party deregistration. The party’s opposition to the court order underscores ongoing tensions between the ADC and the judiciary as the 2027 election approaches.
