Call for Protest: Amaechi contributed to Nigeria’s current hardship – APC

The ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) has condemned former Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi, for expressing concern over the calmness of Nigerians despite the rising cost of living and economic hardship in the country.

Amaechi had, on Wednesday, questioned why Nigerians have not been more vocal in expressing their anger over their inability to purchase basic necessities.

In response, the APC, through a statement signed by its National Publicity Secretary, Barr. Felix Morka, on Friday, slammed Amaechi for his remarks, describing them as insensitive and unpatriotic.

According to the APC, the former minister, who has served the country in various high-ranking positions, contributed to the generational damage to Nigeria’s economy.

The statement reads: “From the lavish comfort of his proverbial glass house, Rotimi Chibuike Amaechi, former Minister of Transportation and Governor of Rivers State, in a recent interview, berated Nigerian youths for not protesting the high cost of living in the country to his morbid satisfaction.

“Amaechi’s comments are insensitive, appalling, and unpatriotic, especially coming from one of Nigeria’s longest-serving and highest-ranking political beneficiaries—a two-term Speaker of the Rivers State House of Assembly, a two-term Governor, and a two-term Minister of Transportation.

“For almost all of his adult life, Amaechi has been a dependant on state resources, a voracious beneficiary of official patronage, and a leading participant in the long-term degradation of our country’s economy. His attempt to hoodwink Nigerians with false empathy and incitement to violence is hypocritical, provocative, and dangerous.

“If those in power ‘steal money,’ as Amaechi mischievously alleged, how come he himself can’t afford to buy diesel barely two years after benefiting from state resources for over 24 years as Speaker, Governor, and Minister?

“The real frustration that Amaechi and his fellow critics—like Atiku Abubakar, Peter Obi, and Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso—feel is that they are not currently in government. But this was a decision made by Nigeria’s ultimate political authority—the electorate. Nigerians are perceptive, discerning, and understand that the economic discomforts resulting from the administration’s necessary reforms are temporary and will soon be outweighed by the transformative dividends that are already beginning to show.

“Nigerians will not be swayed into reclaiming, through violent protest, what they willingly handed over to this administration through the ballot, as Amaechi and his political allies would prefer.

“It is nauseating to think that these critics, who did little to improve the economy or the living conditions of Nigerians while in office, now pontificate about how things should be done but failed to do when they had the chance. They seem to rediscover their talents for governance only when they are out of power.

“They are a tribe of naysayers who see no good, only gloom, and are filled with bile and disdain for the determined efforts of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s APC administration to transform our country’s economy for the benefit of both present and future generations.”

The party urged Amaechi to focus his energy on solving the current crisis in Rivers State, which he once governed, and called on Nigerians to dismiss the call for protest.

“One would expect Amaechi to be preoccupied with addressing the crippling crisis in Rivers State, a state he once governed. Instead, he has chosen to stoke unrest on a national scale. Weaponizing protest and exploiting citizens’ economic discomfort for selfish political objectives, as these critics are doing, is irresponsible and unpatriotic.

“We urge Nigerians to dismiss Amaechi’s call to anarchy and to remain patient while supporting President Tinubu’s bold efforts to transform Nigeria’s economy once and for all,” the party added.