Former Minister of Transportation Rotimi Amaechi has challenged President Bola Tinubu to prove his confidence ahead of the 2027 elections by directing the National Security Adviser, Nuhu Ribadu, to stop interfering with the judiciary and the Independent National Electoral Commission.
Amaechi made the challenge on Friday while speaking during an interview on Channels TV, responding to reports that Tinubu had rallied his support base and declared he was unbothered by the opposition’s mobilization around the African Democratic Congress.
“If he’s confident, tell him to tell Nuhu Ribadu to leave his judiciary and INEC. Why apply the use of the institutions, the federal institutions, against the ADC?
“Tell him that if he’s confident, he should instruct his national security adviser to leave the judiciary and INEC alone and see whether he’ll win the election,” the former minister of transportation said.
When pressed on the claim, Amaechi declined to elaborate.
“I will not explain. If you don’t have eyes, leave it. Even Tinubu knows that. And he brags about it. That’s the funny part of it,” he said.
He also rejected the INEC chairman’s interpretation of a Court of Appeal ruling that the ADC was effectively leaderless.
“Look at the interpretation of the ruling or judgment by the Court of Appeal. Amupitan interpreted the judgment to be that we are leaderless. But that’s not true. And that’s not what the law says,” Amaechi said.
The former governor, who oversaw President Muhammadu Buhari’s presidential campaigns in 2015 and 2019, has recently linked himself with the ADC, a prominent opposition platform ahead of the 2027 general election.
The remarks come amid a mounting crisis in the ADC’s leadership.
On April 2, INEC de-recognized the party’s national chairman, David Mark, and national secretary, Rauf Aregbesola, citing a Court of Appeal ruling directing the status quo awaiting the resolution of a leadership dispute filed by a rival faction loyal to Nafiu Bala Gombe.
INEC chairman Joash Amupitan warned the party on April 3 against holding its planned congresses and national convention without the commission’s approval, stating that defying a current court order could result in the party’s election being declared invalid.
“Don’t do anything. Don’t take any step that will render any proceeding before the court nugatory,” Amupitan said at the time.
The ADC, in turn, rejected INEC’s interpretation of the appellate court’s judgment, arguing that the status quo must be preserved as it existed before Gombe sought the court, when Mark was already the recognized chairman.
Bolaji Abdullahi, the party’s spokesman, accused the ruling All Progressives Congress of orchestrating the internal conflict, claiming that a federal minister was behind a planned rally in Abuja calling for Mark’s resignation.
The ADC has gained several high-profile people in recent months, including former Vice President Atiku Abubakar and former Kano State Governor Rabiu Kwankwaso, strengthening its prominence as a possible presidential candidate against the APC in 2027.
