Former Minister of Transportation and African Democratic Congress (ADC) vice-presidential candidate, Rotimi Amaechi, has said Nigerians are beginning to miss the late former President Muhammadu Buhari because life was better during his administration.
Amaechi made the remarks on Tuesday while speaking on Channels Television’s Sunrise Daily, where he criticised President Bola Tinubu’s administration and urged Nigerians to compare their living conditions under both governments.
He cited the exchange rate, fuel prices and alleged corruption, arguing that Nigerians were better off under Buhari.
“I always like to quote the former president, Buhari. He will say, ‘People will call me back.’ Nigerians will say, ‘We miss former President Buhari’; are they not saying that now?” Amaechi said.
“The reason why they are saying that is: compare your life when President Buhari was alive and was the president of Nigeria, and your life now; which one will you choose?”
According to Amaechi, the dollar exchanged for about ₦600 by the time Buhari left office, while petrol sold for less than ₦300 per litre.
He also questioned whether allegations of corruption under Buhari could be compared with what he described as the scale of corruption under the current administration.
“By the time we left office, dollar was at 600, by the time we left office, fuel was below 300, the stealing in Buhari’s government, if there was stealing in Buhari’s government, can you compare it to what is going on now?” he asked.
“What is going on now is what I call ‘Alibaba and the 40 thieves’.”
Amaechi further alleged that contractors who handled projects under the Ministry of Transportation had been arrested as authorities searched for evidence of wrongdoing during his time as minister.
“They have arrested almost all the contractors in the Ministry of Transport, looking for what I have done in the ministry,” he added.
On the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway project, Amaechi alleged that Tinubu approved its construction because of the personal benefits he expected to gain from it.
“The president chose to construct the coastal road because of the benefits he will get,” he said.
When asked whether some of the challenges facing the Tinubu administration were linked to decisions taken under Buhari, including the former president’s refusal to remove fuel subsidy, Amaechi dismissed the suggestion.
“Name one,” he replied.
Amaechi also defended the ADC’s plan to reintroduce fuel subsidy if the party wins the 2027 presidential election.
He said the party believed Buhari was right to retain the subsidy, although he admitted that he had been among those who previously urged the former president to remove it.
“We (the ADC) have said we will re-introduce fuel subsidy because the fuel subsidy he removed was wrong, Buhari refused to remove fuel subsidy because he told us clearly. In fact, thank God he didn’t, I was among those pushing that he should remove fuel subsidy, he said no, it was wrong,” he said.
Amaechi explained that the ADC presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, had proposed a different approach that would tie subsidy payments to domestic fuel production.
He said the proposed production-based subsidy would encourage investment in local refineries by ensuring that only those producing petroleum products in Nigeria would benefit from the support.
“Atiku has come up with a better procedure to manage fuel subsidy. We are reintroducing production fuel subsidy. If you don’t produce in Nigeria, we will not give you subsidy. It encourages the establishment of refineries,” he added.
