Former Rivers Governor Rotimi Amaechi asserted that if his generation of governors were still in power, the political environment in Nigeria today would be very different, announcing that he and former Governor of Jigava State Sule Lamido would openly challenge President Bola Tinubu.
Amaechi spoke in Abuja on Tuesday, May 13, when Lamido’s autobiography Be loyal to yourself.
“I asked you this morning (Ramido) what happened in Nigerian politics at the moment – when we were governors, was this happening when we were governors? You said no. The answer is no.” “We will face the government, face the president. That’s our radicalization, that’s how our governors’ forums are carried out, that’s our determination to change things.”
Amaechi, who served as NGF chairman during Lamido’s second governor, recalled a period marked by political contempt and ideological intensity. He admits that despite their productive relationship, it is not without disagreement. “We are a great friend in the administration. We went through a bad time when we disagree,” he said. “I made a mistake, assuming he was as radical as I did. So, he was one of the governors who I held on to the radical decision.”
Reflecting on the key differences in his ranks, Amaechi recalls how a faction of the governor broke with the then Goodluck Jonathan’s faction, an incident that saw Amaechi and others allied with the newly formed All Progressive Congress (APC), while Lamido was in aligned with the opposition camp and later with the Social Democrats. He describes their political era as an era of conviction driven and refusal to retreat in the case of over-dividing executives.
Amachi also took the opportunity to severely criticize President Tinob’s handling of the Rivers political crisis, accusing him of using federal power to manipulate national politics. He marked the president’s actions as “rough attempts” to consolidate power and ensure political loyalty before the 2027 elections. Amaechi claims Tinubu is using state agencies to coerce the governor’s submissions to protect his re-election rights.
