Amaechi: As governors, Sule Lamido and I would have confronted Tinubu

Rotimi Amaechi, a former governor of Rivers state, says the state of politics in the country today would have been different if his class of governors were still in office.

The former minister of transportation spoke in Abuja on Tuesday at the public presentation of Sule Lamido’s autobiography titled ‘Being True To Myself’.

Lamido was governor of Jigawa from 2007 to 2015.

Amaechi, who was chairman of the Nigeria Governors Forum (NGF) during Lamido’s second term, said their era was defined by fearless opposition and commitment to federal government oversight.

“I asked you (Lamido) this morning, what is going on currently in the country, in Nigerian politics — would it have happened when we were governors? You said no. And the answer is no,” Amaechi said.

“We would confront the government, confront the president. That’s how radical we were, that’s how our governors forum operated, that’s how determined we were to change things.”

Amaechi said their working relationship was strong, despite occasional disagreements — including Lamido’s initial objection to his election as NGF chairman.

The ex-Rivers governor said one of the major disagreements that led to their separation occurred during the opposition to former President Goodluck Jonathan.

“We were quite good friends in government. We had our bad times when we disagreed,” he said.

“I made the mistake of assuming he was as radical as I was. So, he was one of the governors I clung to when it came to radical decisions.

“The last one before we broke ranks was when we all agreed to go against President Jonathan. We formed a committee of governors and others.

“At the end of the day, he went to find a new party, the SDP. We said, ‘If we go to the SDP, we will lose the election. Let’s hang on to this one called the APC.’ He disagreed and left us. That’s where we parted ways.”

He asked Lamido not to forget the battles they fought, saying he would make a private contribution to his memoir as “two radicals”.

Amaechi’s comment comes two months after President Bola Tinubu declared emergency rule in Rivers. Amaechi had described the president’s action as a “brazen attempt” at power grab.

He had also alleged that the president’s declaration was a ploy to intimidate governors to support his re-election bid.

The former minister also claimed that Tinubu has sent a message to governors “that if you are not careful, the president will remove you”.

In 2024, the former minister said he is disappointed in Nigerians for their seeming laid-back disposition to the economic hardship sweeping through the country.

“There should be protests. Not even protests against anybody but against the politicians that ‘we won’t vote’,” he said.