Former Minister of Transport and two-term Governor of Rivers State, Rotimi Amaechi, has declared his intention to stop President Bola Tinubu from securing a second term in office, accusing the incumbent of deepening national hardship and disregarding the plight of ordinary Nigerians.
Addressing a rapturous crowd of supporters at the Port Harcourt International Airport on Wednesday, Amaechi confirmed his official defection from the All Progressives Congress (APC) to the African Democratic Congress (ADC), calling on Nigerians to register with the party to “salvage the country” from what he described as a government devoid of empathy.
“If you are not tired of Tinubu, I am,” he told the gathering. “If you’re not hungry, I’m hungry. If the rich are spending N4 million a month on electricity, only God knows how the poor are surviving. And the President says he doesn’t care. Well, ADC is here to care.”
Amaechi, a former APC presidential hopeful in 2023, now joins a growing coalition of disaffected political heavyweights that includes former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, ex-Governors Nasir El-Rufai and Rauf Aregbesola, and former SGF Babachir Lawal. The group is reportedly coalescing around the ADC to mount a formidable challenge to Tinubu’s re-election ambitions.
He told supporters that the time had come to “bring an end to bad governance” and announced that the ADC would field a presidential candidate through a transparent process. “Anybody who emerges from the primaries—we insist on a free, fair, and credible process—all of us will support that person.”
Amaechi’s rally in Port Harcourt also served as a fiery indictment of electoral malpractice in Rivers State. “I will not work with you if you support those who write election results. Rivers is notorious for that. And when they write the results, they claim victory.”
After his speech, Amaechi embarked on a symbolic trek from Waterlines to his residence in Old GRA, waving to supporters and passers-by in a move reminiscent of earlier grassroots mobilisation campaigns.
His declaration marks a sharp break from the APC establishment he once helped to build and underscores the deepening fractures within the ruling party as political realignments gather pace ahead of the 2027 general elections.
