2027: We’ll chase Tinubu out of power – Atiku, Amaechi, El-Rufai

Three prominent opposition figures — former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, and former governors Nasir El-Rufai (Kaduna) and Rotimi Amaechi (Rivers) — have come down hard on President Bola Ahmed Tinubu over the worsening insecurity, hunger, and poverty in the country, vowing to stop his re-election bid in 2027.

They spoke at the weekend during a public lecture themed “Weaponisation of Poverty as a Means of Underdevelopment: A Case Study of Nigeria” to mark Amaechi’s 60th birthday.

Atiku, the 2023 presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), accused the Tinubu administration of deliberately weaponising poverty as a tool of political control.

“You may call me a conspirator, you may call me anything,” Atiku said. “That is why we are in this alliance — to make sure we don’t allow them to continue weaponising poverty.”

He said the administration had failed to meet expectations and was using poverty as a political tool.

“What we are experiencing in Nigeria today is state-sanctioned weaponisation of poverty,” he declared.

“When I was growing up in the North, Kano State was the most prosperous. After secondary school, I was posted there. I never saw people sleeping outside — not under bridges, not in front of shops.

“But recently, during a visit to Kano, I saw people sleeping everywhere — under bridges, on the streets — driven out by poverty and insecurity.

“There’s a state agency in Kano that provides support to such people. They began their work — relocating people from under bridges, enlightening them, helping them. What happened? They were called to a meeting and told to stop,” he added.”

Amaechi: Hunger doesn’t know tribe or religion

Also speaking at the event, Amaechi said poverty and insecurity were closely linked and challenged the opposition to rise to the occasion in 2027.

“We are all hungry, all of us are. If you are not hungry, I am. For us in the opposition, if we are serious, we can remove this man from power. We must unite and be committed if we want to get out of this problem. For the opposition to lead us out of this problem, we must all agree to submit ourselves to the interest of the nation first before that of ourselves”, he said.

He added, “Hunger doesn’t recognise tribe or religion. This government has made people poorer, and that has increased the level of insecurity and crime in society.”

Amaechi noted that the power to remove underperforming leaders lies with the people, not politicians.

“Nigerians must know that the power resides with them. If we are serious about change, the people have the power to make it happen.”

He said his refusal to support during the 2023 election stemmed from his belief that Tinubu lacked the capacity to lead.

“I told Tinubu in Yola: I will not support you; I will not work for you. And I didn’t. I didn’t vote for him. It was about capacity.

“Some of us voted along ethnic and religious lines. Innocent, uneducated people are manipulated to vote based on ethnicity and religion — and that’s why we are where we are.”

He criticised the political class for failing the people, saying, “After events like this, we go behind closed doors to plot how to grab power. No Nigerian leader truly cares about the people. The benefits of the fuel subsidy removal? They’re sitting in the pockets of the elite.”

Amaechi expressed embarrassment at Nigeria’s international image, saying carrying the Nigerian passport has become burdensome.

“I’m ashamed. I was detained in Germany for 30 minutes. I had done nothing wrong. I was going for a medical check-up. I showed them my return ticket, yet they said, ‘Wait’. Just because I carried a green passport.”

On his part, former Kaduna State Governor, Mallam Nasir El-Rufai, described Nigeria’s current condition as the worst since the country’s amalgamation in 1914.

“Nigeria is in its biggest trouble since 1914. That’s why we are working and conspiring to build a coalition to take Nigeria back on track — because right now, it is off track,” he said.

He blamed the deterioration on “urban bandits” — leaders who have seized power without competence or vision.

“We’ve allowed bandits, not the ones in the bush but those in urban areas — the so-called urban bandits — to take over leadership.

“Our biggest problem is that we hand over power to people who have no idea what to do. They only know how to seize power but not what to do with it afterwards.”

He called on Nigerians to elect leaders with the “competence, capability, capacity, and commitment” to move the country forward.