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Former Minister of Transportation and African Democratic Congress (ADC) vice-presidential candidate, Rotimi Amaechi, has said Nigerians are beginning to miss the late President Muhammadu Buhari because, in his view, living conditions were better under the previous administration than they are under President Bola Tinubu.
Amaechi made the remarks on Tuesday during an interview on Channels Television’s Sunrise Daily, where he criticised the Tinubu administration and urged Nigerians to compare their economic circumstances under both governments.
He cited the exchange rate, petrol prices and allegations of corruption, arguing that Nigerians faced less economic hardship before the APC government introduced its current policies.
“I always like to quote the former president, Buhari. He will say, ‘People will call me back.’ Nigerians will say, ‘We miss former President Buhari’; are they not saying that now?” Amaechi said.
“The reason why they are saying that is: compare your life when President Buhari was alive and was the president of Nigeria, and your life now; which one will you choose?”
The former Rivers State governor claimed that the exchange rate stood at about ₦600 to the dollar and petrol sold for less than ₦300 per litre when Buhari left office in May 2023.
He also questioned the scale of corruption under the Tinubu administration, comparing it with allegations of financial misconduct during Buhari’s eight-year tenure.
“By the time we left office, dollar was at 600, by the time we left office, fuel was below 300, the stealing in Buhari’s government, if there was stealing in Buhari’s government, can you compare it to what is going on now?” he said.
“What is going on now is what I call ‘Alibaba and the 40 thieves’.”
Amaechi further alleged that the government had arrested several contractors who worked with the Ministry of Transportation during his tenure, claiming that authorities were investigating his time in office.
“They have arrested almost all the contractors in the Ministry of transport, looking for what I have done in the ministry,” he added.
On the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway project, Amaechi questioned the rationale behind the project, alleging that the President approved its construction for personal benefits.
“The president chose to construct the coastal road because of the benefits he will get,” he said.
When asked whether some of the economic challenges facing the Tinubu administration could be traced to decisions taken under Buhari, particularly his refusal to remove petrol subsidy, Amaechi challenged the interviewer to identify such a decision.
“Name one,” he replied.
The ADC chieftain also defended his party’s proposal to restore petrol subsidy if elected in 2027, saying its plan would focus on supporting locally refined products rather than imported fuel.
Amaechi acknowledged that he had previously supported calls for Buhari to remove the subsidy but said the former president had resisted the move because he considered it wrong.
“We (the ADC) have said we will re-introduce fuel subsidy because the fuel subsidy he removed was wrong, Buhari refused to remove fuel subsidy because he told us clearly. In fact, thank God he didn’t, I was among those pushing that he should remove fuel subsidy, he said no, it was wrong,” he said.
He said ADC presidential candidate Atiku Abubakar had proposed a production-based subsidy arrangement under which government support would be restricted to fuel produced in Nigeria.
“Atiku has come up with a better procedure to manage fuel subsidy. We are reintroducing production fuel subsidy. If you don’t produce in Nigeria, we will not give you subsidy. It encourages the establishment of refineries,” he added.
