By Johnbosco Agbakwuru, Bashir Bello, Daniel Abia & Davies Iheamnachor
ABUJA — Former Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi, said yesterday that coalition leaders will fully support the African Democratic Congress’ eventual presidential candidate for the 2027 general elections.
Amaechi stated this on a day the ADC, said policies being implemented by President Bola Tinubu’s administration have failed to alleviate the sufferings of Nigerians.
This is even as former governor of Jigawa State and a chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Sule Lamido, said he is willing to work for any arrangement within or outside his party it to secure Nigeria in 2027 but said he would not be part of any coalition or join the ADC.
Addressing his supporters in Port Harcourt, Amaechi explained that the opposition leaders are optimistic that the process leading to the emergence of the party’s flagbearer will be transparent, free and fair.
“The moment anybody emerges from the primary, all of us will support; that’s the agreement.
We insist on a free and fair, transparent primary,” Amaechi said.
Register with ADC, Amaechi urges supporters
The former chieftain of the All Progressives Congress also decried the hunger and hardship in the country and called on every indigene of the oil-rich Rivers State to register under the ADC and sack the ruling APC in the 2027 general elections.
“Every Rivers man who thinks good of the state and country should move to register with the new party and ensure that we remove the current government and stop the hunger that everybody is suffering from.
“If you are not tired of President Tinubu, I’m tired of President Tinubu. If you’re not hungry, I’m hungry. If the rich men are spending N4 million a month on electricity, only God knows how you are surviving. And the President says he doesn’t care. The President says he is not here to make you happy but ADC is here to make you happy.
“Rivers State is notorious for writing (election) results. When they write result, they claim they have won. I will not work with you if you work with those result-snatchers to announce result. God will bless all of us,’’ the former Rivers governor told his supporters who stormed the Port Harcourt International Airport, Omagwa, in large number.
Amaechi trekked about three kilometres in the city of Port Harcourt to his house at Old GRA, apparently challenging the FCT minister, Nyesom Wike on a popularity contest in the oil rich city.
NIAM speaks
Meanwhile, a group known as Non-indigenes Alliance Movement, NIAM, Port Harcourt Local Government Area chapter, has thrown its support base open for whoever emerged as presidential candidate of the African Democratic Congress, ADC, in 2027.
The group said the primary objective of the ADC is to ensure the government of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu was dethroned through free and fair elections in 2027 “and end the years of bad governance of the APC”.
Speaking with Vanguard at the Port Harcourt International Airport, Omagwa, yesterday, leader of the group, Chief Mike Oyiakhire, said anybody among the key contenders the party nominates to contest in 2027, would be supported by the group.
‘’We have said it over and again that Nigeria cannot continue like this. APC has destroyed this country with bad governance and ADC has come to change that narrative,’’ he said.
We can’t dignify them with response — PRESIDENCY
But the Presidency said it would not dignify opposition elements with response but a Presidency source, however, said the policies of President Bola Tinubu-led administration had started to impact positively on the people.
“We cannot dignify them with a response but it is clear that the policies of the government have started impacting on the masses,’’ the source said.
However, speaking in an interview on Channels Television yesterday, spokesperson of ADC, Bolaji Abdullahi, said amid sufferings by the people, government officials seem oblivious of hardships faced by the populace.
He asserted that the intended benefits of the policies of the Federal Government had yet to materialise for the average citizen, two years after the present administration assumed office.
Govt policies far from real-life experience, says Abdullahi
Abdullahi articulated a disconnect between the government’s rhetoric and real-life experiences of ordinary Nigerians.
He said while the administration touted its policies, the tangible rewards or benefits promised the people remained elusive.
“The policies of this government have not worked. The people are suffering, but government officials have convoys that are getting longer; they are living in opulence, while you say people should continue to suffer,’’ he said
The ADC spokesperson challenged the premise of the government’s approach, questioning the lack of a clear roadmap for the suffering endured by citizens.
He highlighted the absence of a defined period for hardship, coupled with a lack of concrete promises regarding future rewards.
Abdullahi stated: “If you know that the people are going to suffer as a result of these policies that you have adopted and you are unable to mitigate it, you tell the people, If we do this, we will suffer for this period, then this is the reward we will get.’’
The ADC spokesman also pressed for accountability regarding utilisation of funds purportedly saved from removal of petrol subsidy.
While acknowledging that some of these funds had been disbursed to states for infrastructure development, he questioned the direct impact on the daily lives of citizens.
“Where’s that money going? It’s already been given to states; they’ve been spending on infrastructure. Then the question is, how does this affect the life of an ordinary person who has to buy petrol for 1,000 naira?” Abdullahi queried.
He further illustrated this point, saying “now, okay, if I buy petrol for N1,000, I want to be able to walk into a hospital and get cheaper or free drugs. And I say, ‘Oh, that’s the saving, that’s what I’m paying N1,000 for but you don’t see that.”
According to him, this underscores failure of the policies to translate into tangible improvements in essential services for the common man.
I’m willing to work for any arrangement to secure Nigeria —Lamido
In a related development, former governor of Jigawa State and a chieftain of Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Sule Lamido, has said he was willing to work for any arrangement within his party or outside it to secure Nigeria in 2027 but said he will not be part of any coalition or join the ADC.
Lamido, who spoke in an interactive session with journalists in Kano late Tuesday, said the ADC coalition is that of individuals and not political institutions, stressing that explained the reason he will not join it.
He accused the government of President Bola Tinubu and the ruling All Progressive Congress, APC, of using state institutions to coerce opposition into their fold, thus destroying the nation’s democracy.
“Let me say this, I believe Nigeria is not the normal country we had 25 years ago.
There are a lot of problems which are very, very challenging. First, democracy is being challenged. The way the Federal Government and the president and the APC are using state institutions in destroying democracy, stifling opposition through intimidation, blackmail, harassment and patronage is not good for the country.
“The example is Okowa. I mean, a very clear example. This is somebody who was PDP’s running mate in the last presidential elections. And from nowhere, they slammed on him a kind of charge of N1.3 trillion.
‘’He was sent to the EFCC. And then, somehow, behind the scenes, he found himself in the APC. And then, suddenly, there is no more EFCC. The charges have been buried conveniently. This shows that, true to what Oshiomhole as chairman of APC said, no matter your level of crime, if you join APC, you will be forgiven. And that’s why, you know, people are now joining the APC, those who feel they are guilty.
“This way, you are destroying our democracy. Pursue the aspect of legality in terms of crime. But then, at the same time, support democracy. Don’t use it to coerce people.
“Today, the Federal Government, APC government, and Tinubu are using institutions to destroy democracy. And because democracy has been destroyed, therefore, today, there is no security, there is no stability. And there is no unity. There is no trust. There is no way a country can forge ahead if the components don’t trust in one another.
“The components of the country must be able to come together, so there will be stability. But today, Nigeria’s components are not united. They will be able to put a wedge between the north-central and the whole north. Or the north-west.
‘’They will be able to divide the South-East and South-South, using everything unimaginable to be able to create divisions for them to manipulate and exploit for their own political advantage. So, it means our corporate image is now threatened.
‘’We don’t have a country which is now united as a federation, where there is common trust, where there is common love and common respect for one another. It has now been overtaken by an emperor called Tinubu, who uses power to either give life or death to his opponents. And that’s why we’re all panicking today.
“People are saying, what do we do? And in that kind of panic, we’re talking about coalitions or whatever it is. And I’ve been saying, the coalition we had in 2014 was a coalition of organs which were very organic.
‘’You had CPC under Buhari. You had ACN under Tinubu. You had ANPP under the ANPP governors. You had PDP,
people like the Senate president, speaker, and governors of PDP going into the alliance. Therefore, there were organs with clear leadership, with authority, who could give orders down the line.
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