A former Minister of Transportation and presidential aspirant on the platform of the African Democratic Congress, Rotimi Amaechi, has openly challenged claims that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu was solely responsible for the emergence of former President Muhammadu Buhari in 2015, declaring that he — not Tinubu — fought the crucial political battles that secured Buhari’s victory.
Amaechi made the remarks in a now-viral video circulating on social media, where he reflected on the internal power dynamics within the All Progressives Congress during the build-up to the 2015 presidential election.
According to the former Rivers State governor, he deliberately refrained from responding to Tinubu’s repeated claims while serving in Buhari’s cabinet because any public confrontation at the time could have cost him his ministerial position.
“When I was a minister, Tinubu was claiming he made Buhari president, and I couldn’t respond because Buhari could have fired me because I was still serving as a minister,” Amaechi said.
He, however, insisted that the narrative crediting Tinubu as the architect of Buhari’s victory was inaccurate.
“Tinubu didn’t make Buhari president. I did all the battle, not Tinubu,” he declared.
Amaechi’s comments are expected to reignite political debates over the formation of the APC coalition that unseated the Peoples Democratic Party in 2015 and the roles played by the party’s leading power brokers at the time.
The former minister was widely regarded as one of the key strategists behind Buhari’s presidential campaigns and served as Director-General of the Buhari/Osinbajo Campaign Organisation during the historic 2015 election.
His latest remarks also come amid growing political realignments ahead of the 2027 general election, with several former APC figures repositioning themselves within emerging opposition platforms, including the ADC.
Political observers say the comments signal deepening fractures within the old APC alliance and may further fuel contestations over legacy, influence and political ownership of the 2015 victory that reshaped Nigeria’s political landscape.
