Amaechi joins N’Assembly protest over electronic transmission of results
Former Rivers State governor and ex-minister of transportation, Rotimi Amaechi, on Tuesday joined demonstrators at the National Assembly complex in Abuja, as protests against the senate’s rejection of compulsory electronic transmission of election results continued for a second day.
The protest began on Monday, with Peter Obi, the Labour Party’s presidential candidate in the 2023 election, leading a group of supporters demanding reforms to strengthen electoral transparency.
Amaechi, now a leading figure in the African Democratic Congress (ADC), said political leaders must not stay on the sidelines during critical national struggles, insisting they should be ready to lead from the front and even involve their families.
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He urged Nigerians to resist the senate’s position and called on opposition parties to unite in the demonstrations.
“I believe the opposition parties should come out — PDP, ADC, everybody — to protest against the attempt of one party,” Amaechi said.
The former minister alleged that the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) is uncomfortable with real-time transmission of results because it fears electoral defeat.
“If we come out and they say the opposition has hijacked the protest, what is APC doing? Are they not hijacking? What are they afraid of?” he asked.
Amaechi argued that the governing party should have nothing to worry about, especially at a time when several governors and high-profile politicians are defecting to its fold.
He maintained that opposition parties and civil society groups would sustain the protests regardless of the stance of Senate President Godswill Akpabio or President Bola Tinubu.
The ADC chieftain also compared current economic realities with the period of former President Muhammadu Buhari, under whom he served, saying conditions have deteriorated.
“It is worse now than it was then,” he said. “In Buhari’s time, even though we were planning to remove subsidy, we had better plans for citizens.”
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Amaechi further claimed that corruption has increased under the present administration.
On the prospects of Tinubu in the 2027 presidential election, he responded, “Let’s wait and see,” but added that he believes it would be difficult for the incumbent to secure victory.
“The will of the people must prevail,” he said.
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