Former Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi, has disputed claims by President Bola Tinubu that he was solely responsible for the emergence of late Muhammadu Buhari as president in 2015.
Amaechi said he played a central role in Buhari’s victory, stressing that the success of the 2015 election was the result of collective efforts by key political actors rather than the influence of a single individual.
The former minister was reacting to Tinubu’s repeated assertion that Buhari only returned to contest and eventually won the election after his intervention and political backing.
Tinubu had maintained that Buhari, who previously contested unsuccessfully three times, agreed to run again after he personally persuaded him during a visit to Katsina, leading to the formation of a winning coalition.
However, Amaechi rejected that narrative, noting that several stakeholders contributed to the formation of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and the eventual electoral victory.
“When we decided to form the APC, while I was a minister, President Tinubu was claiming he made Buhari president, and I couldn’t respond because I was the minister under President Buhari,” Amaechi said during an interview on Arise TV.
“That will be suicidal because Buhari could fire you. So I couldn’t have said no then. He wasn’t the president. I couldn’t tell him, ‘You are wrong. You didn’t make President Buhari president’.”
He added, “Not only was I the DG of the campaign, but everybody will bear witness that I did all the battle.”
Amaechi explained that he led extensive political mobilisation across the country, both as Chairman of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum and Director-General of Buhari’s presidential campaign.
“I led the governors’ forum. I crisscrossed the country fighting here and there,” he said.
Reflecting on the outcome of the APC-led administration, Amaechi said the government recorded mixed results despite its “change” campaign slogan.
“Did we achieve the change? Here and there. In some areas, well, we did. In some areas, we did not,” he stated.
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