Why I Didn’t Support APC, Vote Tinubu In 2023 – Amaechi

Former Governor of Rivers State, Mr Rotimi Amaechi, has said he neither supported the All Progrssives Congress (APC) nor voted for President Bola Tinubu in 2023 because he believed that the president lacked capacity, adding that the opposition parties can remove him from power in 2027.
Speaking at the weekend during an event organised to mark his 60th birthday anniversary, Mr Amaechi said he met President Tinubu before the 2023 presidential election and told him that he would not work or vote for him.
Mr Amaechi said his decision not to back Tinubu’s presidential bid was based on “capacity” issue.
The former Minister of Transportation, however, said he would have pursued some of the policies of the present administration if he were president, adding that the gains of the policies have not trickled down to Nigerians because “the gains of those policies are in their private pockets”.
Mr Amaechi said he does not mind submitting to the opposition to oust President Tinubu as long as the interest of the nation is served.
“I met President Tinubu in Yola and I told him I would not work for you and I would not vote for you.
“Why I’m saying this? It’s because some people in Rivers State have been saying  ‘he didn’t work for APC, he didn’t support Tinubu’. I told him in advance, before the election…because I was convinced that there was an issue of capacity.
“Some of us here who raised the issue of capacity are also the ones who vote on ethnic and religious basis or who spoil innocent or uneducated people who are poor to vote for people for ethnic or religious reasons. That’s why we are here.
“For us to position, if you want us to remove the man in power, we can remove him from this power. We want to submit to the opposition if the opposition can lead us out of this problem. And for the opposition to lead us out of this problem, we must agree to submit ourselves to the interests of the nation first before the interests of ourselves.”
Speaking to the theme of the event, “Weaponisation Of Poverty As A Means Of Underdevelopment: A Case Study Of Nigeria”, Mr Amaechi said Nigerian leaders did not care about the citizens, but only interested in amassing wealth.
He claimed that there is a conspiracy among the elites to afflict Nigerians with poverty.
“Let me tell you. No Nigerian leader cares for the poor, because they know that Nigerians can do nothing to them once they are in power. When Nigerians protested, the president announced an increase in the price of fuel because they know you cannot do anything.
“It’s a conspiracy of the elite. We don’t care for you; no Nigerian leader cares for you. And the reason is because you all do nothing. You protested, at the end of the protest, the president increased price of fuel because you’ll do nothing”, Mr Amaechi said.