Amaechi tells Igbos to seek President's forgiveness

The Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi, has asked Igbos in the southeast region to seek forgiveness for turning their backs on President Muhammadu Buhari during the 2015 presidential election and elect him for a second term next year.

While delivering a lecture on "The Igbo in the politics of Nigeria" at the Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka, Anambra on Wednesday, March 21, 2018, Amaechi said the decision of the region to back Buhari's opponent, then-president, Goodluck Jonathan, was misinformed because his administration failed to help them.

Amaechi said that Igbos have to join a national party like the ruling All Progressives' Congress (APC) to have a realistic shot at producing a candidate that can emerge president in Nigeria.

However, he mentioned that before this can happen, they first have to seek forgiveness and support President Buhari's bid for a second term in office.

He said, "You (Igbo) did not vote for Buhari, true or false? You voted for PDP and what did they do for you? PDP abandoned the Enugu-Onitsha expressway since 1999, but Buhari is working on it, true or false?.

"Buhari is working on the second Niger Bridge, he is working on the Otuocha-Ibaji-Abuja road, he is working on the Abakaliki-Onueke road, he is working on the Oji-Achi-Naku road in Enugu state, he is also working on Ozalla-Akpugo-Amagunze road. He is working on the Aba-Ikot Ekpene road.

"Under Buhari, all major cities of the south-east are captured in the existing railway project. Name one government that has done up to this within two years. Our problem is that we are just being emotional.

"Igbo should go for confession, seek forgiveness and move into a national party, and look for way to fight from inside.

"They should vote for Buhari for a second term, and then force him out and look for Igbo president. Let the quarrel with the north, real or imagined, stop now."

Buhari's reelection status

While the president has refused to officially declare his intention to seek reelection in 2019, he has flirted around the topic in recent months.

While meeting with the Nigerian community in Abidjan, Cote d'Ivoire in November 2017, the president explained that he was accompanied to the meeting by two state governors because it will "be another vote for me in the future."

Also, while speaking during a two-day visit to Kano State a week later, the president said he's confident of winning reelection particularly due to the crowd turnout.

"I am overwhelmed by the sea of people I see, and by what I see today, if elections are contested I will no doubt win it," he said.

Hours after media reports indicated that Amaechihad been reappointed as Buhari's national campaign coordinator on January 3, 2018, the Minister of Communication, Adebayo Shittu, told journalists in the State House that the campaign for his reelection has officially taken off in the southwest region.

2019 presidential race

Motivational speaker and leadership coach, Fela Durotoye, became the second aspirant to officially declare his intention to contest for president after he joined the Alliance for a New Nigeria (ANN) on February 22, 2018. Omoyele Sowore, the publisher of online news platform, Sahara Reporters, declared his intention to run just days later on February 25.

Ekiti State governor, Ayodele Fayose,remains the only other candidate to have officially declared his intention to contest after his announcement in September 2017.

Former governor of Cross River State, Donald Duke, belongs to a growing list of prominent Nigerians who have dropped hints that they may contest in the 2019 presidential elections.

Founder of the Latter Rain Assembly, PastorTunde Bakare revealed to his congregation on January 1, 2018, that God wants him to run for president despite his plan to quit politics for good.

Even though President Muhammadu Buhari has refused to officially declare his reelection bid, he is expected to face former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar, who is also in contention.