Rotimi Amaechi, a former governor of Rivers State and leader of the African Democratic Congress, an opposition alliance, has called on Nigerians to get ready to cast large numbers of ballots in 2027 in order to guarantee President Bola Tinubu’s loss.
Amaechi, who announced in August that he would like to run for president in 2027, claimed that Tinubu’s defeat in Lagos State in 2023 shown that he is not unbeatable.
Amaechi and former Bayelsa State governor Seriake Dickson spoke at the First Daily newspaper’s fifth anniversary lecture on Monday in Abuja.
‘2027: How can we make our votes count?’ was the event’s topic.
In his message of goodwill, Amaechi warned that voter indifference and apathy allow electoral malpractice to flourish and urged Nigerians to cast ballots in the upcoming elections to stop President Tinubu from winning a second term.
“The government is not the first solution to electoral reform,” he stated. The issue is the people. Voter apathy increases with the number of times you claim they have written the results. President Bola Tinubu will return to Villa due to voter indifference.
“Tell the people the power is in your hands,” Amaechi urged the populace to take charge of the process. Step out. How did Tinubu lose in Lagos if he is that unbeatable?
It may be repeated, but first and foremost, you have to acknowledge that the man is not unbeatable. The resistance is the issue.
It is absurd to expect a government in power to implement such electoral reform, he continued.
The lack of an incumbent government capable of implementing electoral reform is the issue with elections in Nigeria. Never. He remarked, “We’ve already tried it and failed.”
Amaechi claimed that reform initiatives are frequently thwarted by the political class’s vested interests.
The former minister of transportation also accused opposition parties of failing to create workable plans, pointing out that their capacity to oppose the ruling class is weakened by internal strife and a lack of concentration.
“I inform the opposition parties that you are the issue.” Nigeria’s rescue is not being discussed by the opposition party. He remarked, “No one is saying, “Oh, things are horrible, how do we replace the candidate.”
Dickson, the event’s chair, had earlier denounced what he called “the worst coup” against democracy and described as the subversion of the people’s sovereignty through manipulated elections.
“We still have a long way to go in terms of safeguarding the sovereignty that our constitution rightfully claims belongs to the people, since Nigerians only exercise that sovereignty during elections.
The former governor clarified, “Election rigging is the worst coup you can plan.”
The senator from Bayelsa West went on to denounce politicians and government officials for manipulating election outcomes.
He said, “A worst form of violation of the sovereignty of the people is when politicians, governments, security agencies and the electoral umpire itself colludes and then cook election results that have no reference whatsoever to the people.
To put it another way, people don’t even cast ballots, but their votes are recorded and attributed to them, and then they are told to go to court.
“As far as I’m concerned, anyone who has planned that, anyone who has carried that out, those are the real coup plotters because that is a coup against democracy, against the country, in the sovereignty of the people.”
The former Bayelsa governor said he witnessed electoral manipulation during his time in office.
“I was governor in an opposition and fought a lot of battles to keep my state in opposition and I saw all of this. What the average Nigerian politician who calls election planning, my dear friends and fellow Nigerians, if we’re honest, it’s conspiracy to commit crimes,” he said.
He urged the National Assembly to strengthen electoral laws to prevent result falsification and preserve the people’s will.
The Director of the Abuja School of Social and Political Thought, Dr. Sam Amadi , delivered a criticism of the nation’s electoral system during his keynote address, condemning what he described as a growing entanglement between election management and political power.
Amadi argued that the current situation had produced a political environment in which “everyone who has something to do with the management of electoral election is connected to the President.”
He lamented that the long-standing practice of appointing neutral and independent election officials has effectively been abandoned.
“Our elections are always rigged in one form or another,” he said, pointing to systemic drivers, such as high campaign costs, the enormous rewards of office and a political economy that turns elections into “warfare”.
That combination, he said, deepens civic cynicism and depresses turnout, even when citizens see the stakes are national survival.
“Free and fair election is the only way a divided, poor society can have peaceful transition,” the director said.
The speaker ended with a practical call to action, urging focused civic pressure on institutions and actors who can change outcomes.
He singled out INEC for reform.
“INEC must be opened to scrutiny,” he said, blaming both political parties and complicit lawyers and judges for enabling rigging.
The publisher of First Daily, Daniel Markson, in his welcome remarks, lamented Nigeria’s negative global reputation, stating, “There is a leadership issue in this country. I know there are leaders here. I am not particularly pointing fingers at any of you, but let’s tell ourselves the honest truth: we have failed. We have failed.
“I am 55 years old. I can’t remember any time Nigeria worked for me, as sad as it is. Yes, I can’t remember any time Nigeria worked for me and I doubt whether I would live to see that day when Nigeria will work for me.”
Markson attributed the country’s leadership crisis to flawed elections.
He announced that First Daily would embark on a nationwide voter sensitization campaign next year.
Nigeria’s struggle to achieve credible elections has been a recurring challenge since the return to civilian rule in 1999.
Despite a series of reforms, including the introduction of the Smart Card Reader in 2015 and the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System in 2023, allegations of vote-buying, intimidation, and result manipulation have persisted.
The 2023 general elections, which brought President Bola Tinubu to power, were marred by technical glitches, logistical failures, and accusations of bias against the Independent National Electoral Commission.
These controversies have eroded public trust, with many Nigerians questioning whether their votes truly count—an issue that continues to define political discourse ahead of the 2027 polls.
The event brought together political figures, diplomats, and media executives who discussed the future of Nigeria’s democracy and the urgent need to restore integrity to the nation’s electoral system.
