Former Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi, has recalled how his team mobilised Nigerians to resist electoral manipulation during the 2015 campaign.
Speaking during a public lecture, he boasted that the whole world knew there would be fire if they were rigged out.
Amaechi also criticised voter apathy, stressing that citizens, not the government, hold the key to electoral reform.
He said, “If you rig us out, you rig problem. As far as we were concerned, they were going to rig the election, so show them that there will be what? Fire. And the whole world knew there would be fire.
“Government won’t give you electoral reform. The first solution to electoral reform is the people. Don’t be shouting electoral reform, electoral reform. You are the problem.
“The more you say they have written the result, the more you have voter apathy. Voter apathy will make Tinubu return to Aso Villa with 30-something per cent.”
He urged Nigerians to prioritise competence over regional or ethnic considerations in choosing leaders.
“Get the best material that can govern the country. If you say you want a president, make sure the president is qualified. The first qualification is that he must change the country when he becomes president.
“The second is that he must have the capacity to say, ‘I will be mad with you. You see this election, all of us will die,” Amaechi said.
He also cited opposition missteps in previous elections, including their inability to campaign in parts of the North due to extensive mobilisation by his team.
“Ask the PDP, could they campaign in Kano? They couldn’t. When they went there, what did they hear? ‘Bamaso, bamaso.’ Because we had mobilised Nigerians,” he said.