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Rotimi Amaechi, former governor of Rivers state and ex-minister of transportation, joined protesters in Abuja on Tuesday as demonstrations over the senate’s rejection of mandatory electronic transmission of election results entered a second day.
The protests at the National Assembly Complex began on Monday, with Peter Obi, presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP) in the 2023 election, leading one group of demonstrators.
Amaechi, who, like Obi, is a chieftain of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), said leaders should be at the forefront of major protests and should be willing to involve their families.
The ADC chieftain implored Nigerians to resist the senate, urging all opposition parties to join the protest.
Amaechi alleged that the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) is opposed to electronic transmission of election results because it fears losing elections.
“I believe that the opposition parties should come out — PDP, ADC, everybody should be out — to protest against the attempt of one party,” he said.
“If we come out, and they say the opposition has hijacked (the protest), what is APC doing? Are they not hijacking? What are they afraid of?”
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Amaechi said the ruling party should not fear the process, seeing as several governors and prominent politicians are joining its ranks.
He added that opposition parties and civil society organisations would continue the protests, even if Senate President Godswill Akpabio and President Bola Tinubu look the other way.
Amaechi also juxtaposed current living conditions with what obtained during the Muhammadu Buhari administration he served in.
“It is worse now than it was then,” he said.
“In Buhari’s time, at least, even though we were planning to remove subsidy, we had better plans for citizens.”
He further alleged that corruption has spiked under Tinubu.
Asked whether he believed Tinubu would win the 2027 presidential election, Amaechi said: “Let’s wait and see”, adding that it would be impossible for the incumbent to win the poll.
“The will of the people must prevail,” he said.
