Former Minister of Transportation and African Democratic Congress (ADC) chieftain, Rotimi Amaechi, has criticised President Bola Tinubu, declaring that Nigerians who vote for him in the 2027 general election would be acting irrationally.
Amaechi made the remarks on Thursday during a town hall meeting in Edo State, where he urged residents to reject Tinubu’s re-election bid and support the opposition in the forthcoming polls.
“They are going about saying ‘Vote Tinubu! Vote Tinubu!’ Only thieves can vote for Tinubu. In fact, I read a comment on social media where someone said, ‘It’s in 2027 that we will know how many mad men we have in Nigeria.
“Because it’s only a mad people that can vote for Tinubu. If Edo people vote for President Tinubu, that means Edo people are mad. If you’re not mad, Tinubu should not win here,” he said.
The former Rivers State governor also accused the Tinubu administration of prioritising financial interests over the economic needs of Nigerians in its choice of infrastructure projects.
He specifically questioned the plan to construct another seaport in Ogun State, arguing that the volume of goods produced in the state should be considered before expanding port facilities.
“So, Tinubu just hates you. No, I’m not joking. If Tinubu does not hate you, why is he building another seaport? In Ogun, what are the goods we are producing? What goods are we producing to have as many as that number of seaports? It is not because he likes Ogun people. It is the money he will make out of the construction.”
Amaechi also called on opposition supporters to return home and participate in the political process if they wanted a change of government in 2027.
“If you want Tinubu to go, please go home. Go home. Go home,” he said.
On fuel subsidy, the ADC chieftain advocated a production-based arrangement that would lower domestic fuel prices by reducing the cost of crude oil supplied to local refineries.
He argued that the proposed model would differ from the previous subsidy system, which he said created opportunities for some wealthy individuals to benefit from the arrangement.
“When we bring back subsidy, it’s not that one that will produce rich men. That subsidy where rich men will go to Ghana and come back to say, ‘We have bough fuel for you’. We are bringing back a subsidy called Production subsidy. If you don’t have a refinery in Nigeria, you will not get subsidy. We don’t have to pay for it. Government will not pay for the subsidy. All the government needs to do is to make a policy.
“The price at which I sell crude on the international market and price with which I sell crude in the Nigerian market will be different. I will do domestic pricing. If I sell crude at N15,000 on the international market, in Nigeria, I will sell to Dangote at N10,000. And here we have four modular refineries. The difference will be N5,000. I will then sit with Dangote and the modular refiners and tell them to give me a subsidy of N5,000. Once that happens, the price of fuel will come down. When the price of fuel comes down, the price of everything will go down.”
Amaechi’s proposal centres on selling crude oil to domestic refiners at a lower price than the international market rate, with the resulting cost advantage expected to translate into cheaper petrol and lower prices for other goods and services.
(DAILY TRUST)
