ABUJA, Nigeria — Rotimi Amaechi, former Minister of Transportation and a founding figure in the newly restructured African Democratic Congress (ADC), says he is willing to serve only one term as president if elected in 2027, in adherence to Nigeria’s unwritten power rotation agreement between the North and South.
Speaking on Thursday, July 3, 2025, during an interview on Politics Today, a Channels Television programme, Amaechi said the country’s political stability depends on maintaining the principle of rotational presidency, which he has long championed.
“For now, the way Nigeria is, you must keep to that unwritten agreement that says south eight years, north eight years,” Amaechi said.
“I led a fight against the PDP government because there was an agreement that the government at that time would spend four years, but after four years, the government reneged, and I said, ‘no, that will be unfair.’
That will lead to instability at its peak, as the north will react.”
The former Rivers State governor added that if given the ADC presidential ticket, he would serve for only four years to honour that principle.
“Of course,” Amaechi said when asked if he would step down after a single term.
His comments follow a similar one-term pledge made earlier in the week by Peter Obi, the 2023 Labour Party (LP) presidential candidate and one of the coalition’s most visible figures.
Amaechi also used the platform to deliver a sharp critique of President Bola Tinubu’s administration, claiming that even the much-maligned government of former President Muhammadu Buhari performed better by several metrics.
“Buhari will tell you he didn’t achieve everything, but his government was better than this one by all standards,” Amaechi said.
“Security under Buhari was a priority. Transportation saw progress. INEC had more independence.”
He alleged that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) is now being manipulated by government operatives to obstruct opposition politics.
“Today, they can’t even register a party because government officials are telling INEC not to,” he claimed.
“So how is INEC an umpire when it takes instructions from the government?”
Amaechi, who came second to President Tinubu in the All Progressives Congress (APC) presidential primary in 2022, was present at Wednesday, July 2, 2025, unveiling of the ADC coalition, which is aiming to build a broad opposition front for the 2027 elections.
The coalition features a host of political heavyweights including former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar, Peter Obi, and ex-governors from across the country.
He stressed that the group’s immediate focus was on building the ADC as a credible political platform, rather than personal ambition.
“If not for the coalition agreement, the answer to whether I’ll run (as president) would have been an outright yes,” he said.
“But what did we agree? Everyone should keep aside their ambition. Let’s first get the platform. Let’s build it before talking about the presidency.”
Amaechi also took a swipe at the current political climate, saying Nigerian governors no longer have the independence they once enjoyed.
He recounted resisting efforts by then-President Goodluck Jonathan to impose a chairman on the Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF).
“When I heard the president wanted to appoint a chairman for the Governors’ Forum, I almost collapsed,” he recalled.
“We demanded an election, and I won — 19 votes to Jang’s 16. Back then, governors had a voice. Now? They don’t.”
He further criticised the current administration’s approach to borrowing, contrasting it with Buhari’s fiscal conservatism.
“Buhari once rejected a minister’s loan proposal at FEC and insisted only key ministries like transport should access credit,” Amaechi said.
