Former Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi, has challenged claims by President Bola Tinubu that he was chiefly responsible for the emergence of the late Muhammadu Buhari as president in 2015.
Amaechi said Buhari’s victory was the result of collective efforts by key political actors, insisting that he played a central role in mobilising support and coordinating the campaign that led to the electoral win.
Tinubu has repeatedly maintained that Buhari would not have secured the presidency without his intervention, noting that he persuaded the former military ruler to contest again after three unsuccessful attempts and helped build the coalition that delivered victory.
However, Amaechi, speaking in an interview on Arise TV on Friday, disagreed with that narrative, stating that multiple stakeholders were instrumental in forming the All Progressives Congress and securing Buhari’s win.
He explained that he had refrained from publicly countering Tinubu’s claim while serving in Buhari’s cabinet, as doing so could have had political consequences.
According to him, beyond serving as Director-General of Buhari’s presidential campaign, he also leveraged his position as chairman of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum to drive nationwide mobilisation.
“I led the governors’ forum and crisscrossed the country campaigning and coordinating efforts,” he said, maintaining that he “did all the battle” during the electioneering period.
Amaechi added that while the APC’s “change” agenda brought the party to power in 2015, the administration recorded mixed results in governance, with successes in some areas and shortcomings in others.
