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.

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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.”

“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 Tinubu 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.”

“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.

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

Nobel Laureate, Professor Wole Soyinka, who also attended the lecture, praised Amaechi’s courage during the APC presidential primaries in 2022, where he refused to step down for Tinubu.

“The main reason I had to be here today is because I admire Rotimi Amaechi’s fighting spirit. It’s consistent,” Soyinka said.

He recalled watching the APC primary election live from Abu Dhabi and being moved by Amaechi’s stance.

“It gave me great, almost mischievous pleasure—rascally if you like—to see the incumbent president being given a dose of his own medicine.”

Soyinka compared Amaechi’s defiance to Tinubu’s own refusal to step down during the Obasanjo era.

“While others were falling over themselves conceding, one man stood up and said, ‘No, I’m not conceding.’ That was Rotimi Amaechi. And I thought, this is what democracy is all about.”

Tinubu eventually emerged as the APC flagbearer, polling 1,271 votes to defeat 13 other aspirants. Amaechi came second with 316 votes.

Also speaking, the Emir of Kano and former Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Governor, Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, said he only truly understood the scale of poverty after ascending the throne.

“Many of Nigeria’s elites have no real idea what poverty is,” he said. “As an economist and a former CBN governor, I saw the numbers. But I didn’t know poverty until I became Emir.

“You go to the villages and see the water they drink, the houses they live in — two-block classrooms with no roofs. Do we love the people, or do we just love ruling over them?

“Our priorities are upside down. We build overpasses and underpasses in the cities for ourselves, while those in rural areas can’t even reach a clinic. We are in crisis. Our focus should be: how do we get out?”

He urged those in leadership to show empathy and reflect on the human impact of their decisions.

Shine your eyes, Dickson tells coalition

But former Bayelsa governor and serving senator, Seriake Dickson, has advised opposition leaders to be more strategic and unified as they attempt to unseat Tinubu in 2027.

“When I came in here and climbing up here, I have seen a lot of you and as my brother El-Rufai has said, there are a number of you who are expert conspirators, who know how to assemble coalitions and then take over governments as you did to my party in 2015.

“And when you did so, particularly to a clueless government, so-called. Now, 11 years down the line, we thought that there would have been no weaponisation of poverty and that all the challenges of Nigeria would have been gone.

“But 11 years down the line, here we are, assembled to still bemoan the fate of our country.

“And the only advice I can give, not being a professional coalition builder and conspirator, as some of you are, is that this time, shine your eyes. As you live coalition and conspire, shine your eyes, “Dickson said.

APC fires back: Opposition lacks the capacity

In its response, the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) dismissed the opposition’s claims, saying they lack both the capacity and credibility to unseat President Tinubu.

APC National Director of Publicity, Bala Ibrahim, in a phone interview with Daily Trust, dismissed the allegations against the Tinubu-led government as politically motivated and lacking objectivity.

“When people speak out of anger because they are aggrieved, their assessments cannot be objective or fair,” he said.

“These are people with grudges against the current administration. Their judgement cannot withstand the test of conscience.”

He said President Tinubu remains focused on reforming the country.

“President Bola Ahmed Tinubu is a reformer, and he has promised to deliver reforms that will lead Nigeria to prosperity.

“Yes, some people will feel offended in the process — that’s expected. But if the larger population stands to benefit, then so be it.”

Efforts to get an official response from the Presidency were unsuccessful. Calls and messages sent to the Special Adviser on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, and the Special Adviser on Policy Communications, Daniel Bwala, went unanswered.

Last updated on June 4th, 2025 at 08:41 pm