Tinubu Does Not Have The Capacity To Lead Nigeria – Amaechi

By Gideon Njoku

No former Governor of Rivers State, including the man Amaechi publicly said played a major role in his life, Dr. Peter Odili, was present

A former two-time Governor of Rivers State, Rotimi Amaechi, has said that President Bola Tinubu does not have the capacity to either govern Nigeria, or lift it out from the doldrums.

Amaechi who was also Nigeria’s Minister for Transportation under the Government of President Muhammadu Buhari also disclosed that the President knows his opinion about his capacity.

Speaking at a lecture in Abuja to mark his 60th birthday, Amaechi said it was because of the capacity-deficit of the President to lead Nigeria that he told Tinubu that he, Amaechi, was not prepared to work with his Government.

The foundation member of the APC also revealed that he neither campaigned for Tinubu nor voted for him.

Amaechi: “I met President Tinubu in Yola and I told him I will not work for you, and I will not vote for you.

“I told him like that. People have been saying I do not work for All People’s Congress (APC), or Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). That is because I was convinced that there was an issue of capacity.”

The theme of the birthday lecture was “Weaponization of Poverty” and it was attended by a high profile audience which included the Emir of Kano, Sule Lamido Sanusi, Prof Wole Soyinka, former Governor of Kaduna State Nasir El-Rufai,   former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar, Cardinal John Onaiyekan, several traditional rulers, many others and a whole lot Amaechi’s loyalists from Rivers State.

Incidentally, no past Governor of Rivers State, including the man who he said ranks only second in his life to his biological father, Dr. Peter Odili, was present. Not a few people counted that as a minus for the celebrant.

Amaechi, also, lamented the disaster voting on religious and tribal sentiments have wrought on Nigeria. His words:

“Let me tell you, no Nigerian leader cares for the poor, because they know that Nigerians can do nothing to them once they are in power. When Nigerians protested, the President announced an increase in the price of fuel because they know you cannot do anything.

“Nigerian leaders and elites are not the problem of Nigeria; the problem of Nigeria is the followers.

“We say Nigeria is a capitalist country, but capitalists are those who invest in production, however, Nigeria does not produce anything, we just want to feast on the revenue gotten from crude oil.

“I was ashamed of one of my appointees when I was the Minister of Transport. I appointed her to improve and turnaround things around, unfortunately, she was more interested in speaking Hausa/Fulani to the President.”

“An ordinary Northerner who is a Muslim has no problem with the ordinary Southerner who is a Christian. It is when they come to elections, they will tell you.

“Now you have a Muslim-Muslim ticket. Let the Muslim-Muslim market come out now. It’s time. We are all hungry. All of us are. If you are not hungry, I am”

Speaking on  the 2027 Presidential Elections Amaechi insisted that Tinubu could be beaten in 2027 if the opposition work together and added that beating Tinubu in 2027 is one of the reasons he is in opposition.

Amaechi was was beaten to a distant second place by Tinubu in the All Progressives Congress, APC, Presidential Primaries. Amaechi had alleged after his defeat that the Primary was corrupted by money. Since that defeat, Americans has given both the Party and President Tinubu a lot of space. And, now, finally, he has joined the opposition and publicly says “Tinubu should go!”