How Tinubu can be booted out of office in 2027 – Amaechi

Former Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi, has said that stopping President Bola Tinubu from securing a second term in 2027 will require Nigerians to take decisive action rather than relying on mere hope.

Speaking in Abuja during the public unveiling of the 2025 Nigeria Social Cohesion Survey Report by the Africa Polling Institute, Amaechi stressed the need for proactive citizen involvement in the political process.

He stated, “The only way you can stop Tinubu from being the president of Nigeria in 2027 is to run an election of Nigerians versus the bandits. If you think you will just sit down and do that, may God be with you.”

The former governor of Rivers State also criticised what he described as widespread passivity among the populace, despite growing dissatisfaction with the political elite.

“The elites who are stealing Nigerian money are not up to 100,000 but you have 200 million Nigerians who can fight 100,000 men. You sit down in your house and complain and grumble. What makes you think the elites would move their hands completely? Who told you the elites don’t know how you are feeling? They know you are not happy. But you are helpless not because the elites made you helpless, you made yourself helpless,” he said.

Drawing parallels with international examples, Amaechi cited nations where public uprisings had forced political leaders out of power.

“Go to Bangladesh, right? The day they got tired of that woman, what did they do? They chased her out. Go to, is it Peru or Chile? Nigeria is the most docile society I’ve seen in my life. Please tell me, has there been any revolution without blood? Any revolution without blood is a failure,” he added.

Reflecting on his own personal frustrations, Amaechi admitted that he had contemplated leaving the country.

“I told my wife, I want to Japa like you people do. They will give me official visa to come and stay in their country, any country. She said, no, we can’t leave Nigeria. Because Nigeria is lovable. It’s lovely,” he said.

He also lamented the decline of organized civil resistance, recalling a time when student unions and labour groups operated in unison to demand change.

“There was a joint meeting between ASUU, NLC, and NANS. Where would I go? Who would be president of ASUU? Who would be president of NLC? Who would be president of NANS? So that when NANS spoke, ASUU would give the government one week, and NLC would give two weeks before joining in. Now, NLC can’t even mobilise their people. Why? Ethnicity. I’ve spoken to them before. I even told them, I will join you in the protest. They said they can’t. So, Nigeria is totally collapsed,” he said.

Amaechi further argued that the political class has failed more grievously than the military, worsening the lives of ordinary Nigerians.

“We pushed away the military and brought in the politicians. The politicians have shown they are worse than the military,” he remarked.

Sharing insights from his time as governor, he explained how spikes in crime were often indicators of underlying economic issues.

“I was once a governor. The moment I see robbery, kidnapping, I know that there is no money in society. So the Commissioner for Finance pays contractors, pays those who are owing. When you pay, what happens? The base is workers. The base is people who are suppliers who are supplying goods. They in turn go to the market. They buy goods. They pay the tailor, they pay the doctor. The money goes around. And then the crime rate will reduce.”

Earlier in the event, Executive Director of the Africa Polling Institute, Professor Bell Ihua, presented findings showing widespread disillusionment with national leadership.

He said, “This report has very telling information. Citizens are united in shared struggle based on economic realities. The government needs to act based on this scientific data to rebuild public confidence.”
He urged decision-makers to take the data seriously and use it to improve governance.