Reflecting on their time as governors, Amaechi said their era was defined by bold leadership and fearless opposition.
Former Minister of Transportation and ex-Governor of Rivers State, Rotimi Amaechi has slammed the Nigeria Governors’ Forum.
According to him, he and former Jigawa State Governor, Sule Lamido, would have openly confronted President Bola Ahmed Tinubu over the current state of Nigeria if they were still in office.
Amaechi made the remark on Tuesday, May 14, during the launch of Lamido’s autobiography titled “Being True to Myself, held in Abuja.
Reflecting on their time as governors, Amaechi said their era was defined by bold leadership and fearless opposition.
According to him, the Nigeria Governors’ Forum under his leadership was known for challenging the Federal Government when necessary.
“I asked you (Lamido) this morning, what is going on currently in the country, in Nigerian politics — would it have happened when we were governors? You said no. And the answer is no,” Amaechi recalled.
“We would have confronted the government, confronted the president. That’s how radical you were. That’s how our Governors Forum operated. That’s how determined we were to change things.”
Amaechi also reminisced about his strong political alliance with Lamido, describing him as one of his trusted comrades during key decisions in government.
However, he pointed out that their relationship later hit a rough patch during the buildup to the 2015 general elections.
According to Amaechi, while they initially agreed on opposing then-President Goodluck Jonathan, they eventually clashed over political strategies.
“We were quite good friends in government. We had our bad times when we disagreed. I made the mistake of assuming he was as radical as I was. So, he was one of the governors I clung to when it came to radical decisions,” he said.
“The last one before we broke ranks was when we all agreed to go against President Jonathan. We formed a committee of governors and others. At the end of the day, he went to find a new party, the SDP. We said, ‘If we go to the SDP, we will lose the election. Let’s hang on to this one called the APC.’ He disagreed and left us. That’s where we parted ways,” Amaechi added.
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