I told Tinubu to his face that I won't vote for him because he lacks capacity - Amaechi

Former Rivers State Governor Rotimi Amaechi has recalled his meeting with President Bola Tinubu before the 2023 election, during which he told the then-All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate that he would never vote for him.

He explained that his decision was based on his belief that Tinubu lacked the capacity to govern Nigeria. He added that he kept to his words and never worked for or voted for the President.

Amaechi revealed this while speaking at an event organised to mark his 60th birthday anniversary in Abuja on Saturday, May 31, 2025.

“I met President Tinubu in Yola and I told him I would not work for you and I would not vote for you,” Amaechi said.

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“Why I’m saying this is because some people in Rivers state have been saying ‘he didn’t work for APC, he didn’t support Tinubu’. I told him in advance before the election…because I was convinced that there was an issue of capacity."

He claimed that those complaining about bad leadership today are the same set of people who misguided innocent Nigerians into letting religious and ethnic sentiments influence their choices in the last election.

“Some of us here who raise the issue of capacity are also the ones who vote on ethnic and religious basis or who spoil innocent or uneducated people who are poor to vote for people for ethnic or religious reasons. That’s why we are here," he added.

Amaechi convinced opposition parties could unseat Tinubu

The former Transportation Minister expressed conviction that opposition parties can remove President Tinubu in 2027, declaring his readiness to submit to the opposition as long as the interest of the nation is placed above individual interests.

He also urged all opposition stakeholders to be ready to sacrifice their personal interests to salvage the country.

“For us to position, if you want us to remove the man in power, we can remove him from this power. We want to submit to the opposition if the opposition can lead us out of this problem. And for the opposition to lead us out of this problem, we must agree to submit ourselves to the interests of the nation first before the interests of ourselves,” he added.

Amaechi, who finished second in the APC presidential primary, admitted that if he had won, he would have pursued some of the policies of the Tinubu administration.

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However, he said that the policies' gains have not had multiplier effects on Nigerians because they “are in private pockets.”

Dignitaries, including former President Atiku Abubakar, former Kaduna State Governor Nasir El-Rufai, and Nobel Laureate Prof Wole Soyinka, graced the event.