2027: Amaechi urges Nigerians to mobilise, says Tinubu can be defeated

A former Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi, has urged opposition parties to mobilise citizens ahead of the 2027 general election, insisting that President Bola Tinubu is not politically invincible.

Speaking at the 2025 National Electoral Reforms Summit in Abuja on Tuesday, Amaechi warned against political apathy and the decline of civic pressure groups in Nigeria.

The former Rivers State governor argued that election outcomes are not predetermined if Nigerians turn out in large numbers to vote.

He said, “When you say the president is invincible, he is not invincible. I’ve worked with him and I know him. When you say the results are already written, they are happy to spread that narrative so people won’t come out.

“If you come out en masse, nobody will write any results. Nobody will take away the result sheets. Anyone who tries it will only be creating problems for himself.”

Amaechi, who once served as Director-General of the All Progressives Congress Presidential Campaign Organisation, accused the political class and state institutions of eroding accountability.

The former minister stressed that meaningful reform would not come from the government unless citizens demand it.

He added that pro-democracy participation should be citizen-driven, noting that groups such as the Nigeria Labour Congress, Academic Staff Union of Universities, and National Association of Nigerian Students can no longer be relied upon for national mobilisation.

“Don’t wait for the NLC. There is no NLC. There is also no ASUU or NANS anymore. If you are waiting for the government to initiate any reform, you are wasting your time.

“Before the election, there must be resistance to those who do not want a credible process,” he stated.

Amaechi also lamented the worsening economic hardship, saying widespread hunger has become undeniable regardless of social status.

He said, “The other day, I said Nigerians are hungry. If they are not hungry, I’m hungry. But whether I’m hungry or not, are Nigerians not hungry?”

The former minister warned that political patronage networks and contractor-politician alliances were deepening inequality and weakening democratic accountability.

Amaechi’s remarks come days after former Abia State Governor, Senator Orji Uzor Kalu, predicted that Tinubu would face no serious challenger in the 2027 presidential election.

Kalu had said that the contest would be a “Tinubu versus Tinubu” race, insisting that the APC remains firmly rooted across the country.