Vice-presidential candidate of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), Rotimi Amaechi, has pledged to resign from office if Nigeria does not begin to experience significant changes within one year of the party taking power in 2027.
Amaechi made the commitment during an interview on AIT’s Democracy Today on Wednesday, where he outlined security, education and the economy as the key areas an ADC administration would focus on.
He also identified corruption as a major obstacle to addressing the country’s challenges, arguing that public resources meant for critical sectors were being diverted for personal use.
‘We must deal with three things. We must deal with security; we must deal with education; we must deal with the economy. And to do all that, corruption will have to come down because there’s no money for anybody to steal,’ Amaechi said.
According to him, an ADC government would seek to tackle the problems affecting Nigerians by addressing both insecurity and the misuse of public funds.
Amaechi also criticised the removal of fuel subsidy by President Bola Tinubu’s administration, questioning the benefits Nigerians have received from the policy.
‘President Tinubu remove subsidy, what are the benefits of subsidy? Subsidy money is in private pockets and they are celebrating,’ he said.
The ADC candidate further raised concerns about the contrast between the level of poverty in Nigeria and the lavish spending he said he had witnessed at some social events.
He said he sometimes stayed only briefly at such gatherings because he questioned how attendees were able to spend large sums of money amid widespread economic hardship.
‘I sit down and ask myself, where are these people getting this money from, going by how high poverty is in Nigeria?’ he said.
On the state of the economy, Amaechi argued that Nigeria’s dependence on imported finished products was another indication of the country’s economic difficulties.
‘Who are those importing? Nigeria is in trouble,’ he said.
Amaechi also referenced reports of Nigerians booing Tinubu as the president arrived at the Lagos International Airport, saying such a situation would not occur under an ADC administration if the party succeeds in 2027.
‘I watched people hoot at Tinubu from the Lagos International Airport to his house. If we become President, nobody will do that, they will be clapping for us because we will change Nigeria,’ he said.
His pledge came shortly after his political rival, Nyesom Wike, the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, challenged Tinubu to remove him from office if he fails to deliver the FCT to the president in the 2027 election.
Amaechi said he was similarly willing to tie his position to the performance of an ADC government, insisting that Nigerians should hold him accountable if the country does not begin to change within its first year in office.
‘This time, I will say it. If Nigeria does not begin to change one year after we’ve come to office, come to me, I will resign,’ he said.