Amaechi Joins Protest at National Assembly Over Electronic Transmission of Results

(AFRICAN EXAMINER) – Former Rivers State governor and ex-minister of transportation, Rotimi Amaechi, joined demonstrators in Abuja on Tuesday as protests intensified over the Senate’s rejection of mandatory real-time electronic transmission of election results.

The demonstrations, which began on Monday at the National Assembly Complex, entered their second day with prominent political figures showing support. Labour Party presidential candidate in the 2023 election, Peter Obi, led one of the protest groups earlier.

Amaechi, now a leading figure in the African Democratic Congress (ADC) alongside Obi, said political leaders must stand at the forefront of movements that affect the country’s democratic future.

“Leaders should be at the forefront of major protests and should be willing to involve their families,” he said.

He called on all opposition parties to unite against what he described as an attempt to undermine electoral transparency. According to Amaechi, the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) opposes electronic transmission of results because it fears electoral defeat.

“I believe that the opposition parties should come out, PDP, ADC, everybody should be out,  to protest against the attempt of one party,” he stated.

“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?”

Amaechi argued that the APC should have nothing to fear from a transparent process, especially as more governors and influential politicians continue to defect to the party.

He vowed that opposition parties and civil society organisations would sustain the protests, regardless of whether Senate President Godswill Akpabio and President Bola Tinubu respond.

The former minister also compared current economic realities with the period under former President Muhammadu Buhari, in whose administration he served.

“It is worse now than it was then,” Amaechi said.
“In Buhari’s time, at least, even though we were planning to remove subsidy, we had better plans for citizens.”

He further alleged that corruption has increased under the present administration.

When asked about Tinubu’s chances in the 2027 presidential election, Amaechi was cautious but pessimistic about the incumbent’s prospects.

“Let’s wait and see,” he said, adding that it would be difficult for Tinubu to secure victory.
“The will of the people must prevail.”

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