By Ayodele Oni
Former Minister of Transportation and immediate past Governor of Rivers State, Rotimi Amaechi, has adduced that one of his reasons for rejecting to serve as a Vice President is that the designation of the office makes it subordinate, often powerless, and dependent entirely on the temperament of the President.
The former Governor, who ruled out any possibility of serving as Vice President to anyone, stated that ”For Amaechi, the problem with the office of Vice President is not ceremonial, it is structural.
Amaechi made the clarification on Sunday in Abuja during The Uncensored Hangout, hosted by the CLARM and RAPAG.
Asked directly whether he would consider a vice presidential slot, Amaechi said:
“My wife said I should dodge the question. I won’t dodge it. I will not be vice president to anybody. There are too many reasons why I won’t be vice president to anybody.
“We will quarrel. Instead of that, I would rather be a minister than be a vice president.”
He explained that his rejection of the role is rooted in his own experience as a governor and how he ran government with his deputy.
According to Amaechi, power-sharing must be deliberate and institutional, not dependent on goodwill.
“Unless I see a president that will do what I did to my deputy. We ran a joint office.
“Every morning he reported to my office, we sit in my office, and we ran the government together.
“He closes at 4 p.m., I continue till 8 p.m, I go home. Anything short of that turns the Vice President into a political spare tyre, present but ineffective.
That’s the first reason.”
The second reason Amaechi gave was political credibility, particularly with the South. He recalled his stance in 2015, when he openly argued that it was the North’s turn to produce the president and that it would be wrong for the South to take power at that time.
“In 2015, my argument to the South was that it was the turn of the North. It would be wrong for the South to take power from the North because it’s their turn.”
Amaechi insisted that having taken that position publicly, it would be intellectually dishonest for him to now turn around and ask the South to accept a vice presidential role while power returns to the North.
“So what can I tell the South now? Maybe we’re not qualified to be President? Let’s go back to the North? It’s the turn of the North? No, I won’t. It will be difficult for me to go and sell that idea.
”While he was quick to add that he personally does not believe in zoning, Amaechi acknowledged the political reality that arguments made in the past bind future credibility.
“Trust me, I don’t care about zoning. I don’t care,” he said. Amaechi then veered into a broader critique of Nigeria’s political culture and voter behaviour.
He revisited his warnings during the last election cycle, insisting that the hardship Nigerians are currently experiencing did not come as a surprise to him.
“I told Nigerians that if you voted for President Tinubu, you will suffer,” he said bluntly.
According to Amaechi, politics in Nigeria is predictable, driven by interests rather than sentiment. Those who are surprised by the outcomes of elections and governance, he argued, either refused to listen or chose denial.
Amaechi did not absolve the electorate of blame. He argued that citizens must take responsibility for the outcomes they enable, particularly when they fail to protect their votes.
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