‘I’ll leave my wife if she becomes president and governs like Tinubu’ — Amaechi

The African Democratic Congress (ADC) vice-presidential candidate, Rotimi Amaechi, has said he would leave his wife if she became president and governed like President Bola Tinubu. Amaechi stated this during an interview with Rapid TV, urging Nigerians to put aside religious, political and ethnic affiliations and reject Tinubu in the 2027 presidential election.

The former Rivers State governor said his emotional attachment to his wife would not prevent him from opposing her if her administration performed like Tinubu’s. “Today, the closest person in my life is my wife, not my children. So tomorrow, if my wife becomes president and is doing what Tinubu is doing, I’ll be mad to follow my wife, despite my emotional attachment to her.

It’s either she changes, or I leave her,” he said. Amaechi urged Nigerians to assess the President’s performance rather than allow personal affiliations to influence their political choices. “I expect Nigerians not to… forget religion, forget politics, forget ethnicity. Just abandon Tinubu,” he said. The ADC candidate argued that Nigerians had already experienced Tinubu’s leadership and should consider giving the opposition a chance in 2027.

“There’s a difference between Tinubu’s team and our team. They have been tested, so you know that the next four years you will die. We have not been tested, so give us a chance,” he said. Amaechi, however, acknowledged that he had previously held public office as governor and minister, saying his performance in those positions could be assessed by Nigerians.

“The only person you can say that has been tested is me, because I’ve been a governor. But my record speaks for itself. I was once a minister. Projects are out there,” he said. He urged Nigerians to assess his record in Rivers State, adding that his performance as governor was open to public scrutiny. “I was once a governor. Rivers State is there, anybody can go and verify.

You can do your referendum,” Amaechi said. He maintained that neither he nor ADC presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, had been tested at the national level as president and vice-president. Amaechi also criticised Tinubu’s administration, likening the consequences of re-electing the President to the computer principle of “garbage in, garbage out”.

“So now that you know that Tinubu is bad, if you know that Tinubu is bad and you garbage in the bad things, what comes out? The garbage out will also be bad,” he said. The former minister called on Nigerians to participate actively in the election and protect their votes against alleged attempts to manipulate the process. Citing the ongoing voting process in the United States, Amaechi said Nigerians should turn out in large numbers and challenge electoral malpractice.

“You see what’s happening in America? Already 52 million Americans have voted. They are coming out in their numbers,” he said. “In the same manner, Nigerians should come out in their numbers and not only vote; stop them from openly bragging that they will rig. If they have the support of the people, would they be bragging that they would rig?”