Rotimi Amaechi, the vice-presidential candidate of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), has pledged to step down from his position if Nigeria does not start seeing meaningful changes within a year of the party taking power in 2027.
Amaechi made this statement during an interview on AIT’s Democracy Today on Wednesday, noting that an ADC government would focus on security, education, and the economy.
He added that fighting corruption would be essential to solving the nation’s problems, contending that public funds intended for key sectors were being funneled into private pockets.
Amaechi also criticized the removal of fuel subsidies by the administration of President Bola Tinubu, arguing that Nigerians had not benefited sufficiently from the policy.
“President Tinubu removed the subsidy. What are the benefits of the subsidy? Subsidy money is in private pockets, and they are celebrating,” he said.
The former Rivers State governor also expressed concern over the contrast between widespread poverty and the lavish parties he said he encounters in parts of the country.
He stated that he sometimes spent only a few minutes at such events because he questioned the source of the money being spent, given the level of poverty in Nigeria.
“I sit down and ask myself, where are these people getting this money from, going by how high poverty is in Nigeria?” he said.
Speaking on the economy, Amaechi said Nigeria is heavily dependent on imported finished goods, claiming that the country now imports more than 46 per cent of such goods.
“Who are those importing? Nigeria is in trouble,” he said.
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He also referred to reports of Nigerians booing President Tinubu during his arrival at the Lagos International Airport, saying an ADC government would change the situation.
“I watched people hoot at Tinubu from the Lagos International Airport to his house. If we become president, nobody will do that; they will be clapping for us because we will change Nigeria,” he said.
Amaechi’s one-year promise comes shortly after his political rival, Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, said President Bola Tinubu should remove him from office if he fails to deliver the FCT to the President in the 2027 election.
Amaechi, however, mentioned that he was prepared to stake his own position on the performance of an ADC government.
“This time, I will say it. If Nigeria does not begin to change one year after we’ve come to the office, come to me, and I will resign,” he said.
