A former Rivers State Governor, Rotimi Amaechi joined protesters in Abuja on Tuesday, accompanied by his son, a medical doctor, to demonstrate against the Senate’s rejection of mandatory real-time electronic transmission of election results.
Addresing journalists, Amaechi said he wanted his son on hand to provide immediate medical support if the protest turned violent.
He said, “The reason is that I believe there should be more Nigerians out here now. I had always told them, ‘When there’s a protest, all of us should come out.’
“There are those who say that we politicians want protests, but our children are overseas. Here’s my first son; I brought him here to join. He’s a medical doctor; his job is, if there’s an injury, he should treat the injured ones.”
Amaechi also accused the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) of opposing electronic transmission of results because it fears losing elections.
“I believe that the opposition parties should come out—PDP, ADC, everybody should be out—to protest against the attempt of one party,” Amaechi said.
“If we come out, and they say the opposition has hijacked (the protest), what is APC doing? Are they not hijacking? What are they afraid of? I thought they said they have 31 governors. Tinubu is not Jonathan. The only way a good politician will know he has done well is by the people.”
The former transport minister urged Nigerians to mobilise in large numbers, saying, “Whether we like it or not, these men will bring policemen, so we must mobilise to match police for police.” We must let them know that if they are 370,000, when they see people who have come out, they will join us.
“What is the advantage of electronic transmission? It’s that few Nigerians will die on election day. What we have now is that every election, people are dying in their droves, in large numbers, and people don’t care.
“On election day, Senator Akpabio will be in his mansion with police and army protecting him, while people like us will be in the field, and they’re rigging the election. If you think they won’t rig, you’re wasting time; we must come out in large numbers.”
He also criticised the government’s response to insecurity, arguing that President Tinubu only reacted after threats from US President Donald Trump.
“The problem is not Akpabio; even the president doesn’t think the citizens matter. The only time the president reacted to insecurity was when Americans said they were killing Christians; that’s when he felt his office was threatened. He doesn’t care about Nigerians,” Amaechi said.
