By Samuel Solomon
Former Minister of Transportation and presidential aspirant of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), Rotimi Amaechi, has vowed to transform Nigeria within four years if elected president in the 2027 general election.
Amaechi made the declaration on Thursday shortly after submitting his nomination forms at the national headquarters of the ADC in Abuja.
The former Rivers State governor also criticised the administration of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, blaming it for the rising economic hardship across the country.
Amaechi said the 2027 presidential election should be decided based on competence, performance and experience rather than ethnic or regional considerations.
“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.”
The former minister said his years in public service had equipped him with the experience needed to lead the country, pointing to his records as governor of Rivers State and 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.
Speaking on the country’s economic situation, Amaechi accused the Tinubu administration of worsening the hardship faced by Nigerians.
“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 hardship in the country affects Nigerians regardless of religion or ethnicity.
“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 ADC presidential primaries, the former minister said he preferred a direct primary but would accept a consensus arrangement if it worked in his favour.
“I’m going for primary. If the consensus is me, fine. But if it’s not me, I’m going for primary,” he said.
