Former Rivers State Governor, Rotimi Amaechi, has expressed that he and former Jigawa State Governor, Sule Lamido, would not have tolerated the current state of Nigeria had they still been in office. Amaechi made the statement during the public presentation of Lamido’s autobiography, Being True to Myself, held in Abuja on Tuesday.
During the event, Amaechi, who served as the Chairman of the Nigeria Governors Forum during Lamido’s second term as Governor of Jigawa State, reflected on their shared commitment to holding the federal government accountable and their bold stance in Nigerian politics.
“I asked you (Lamido) this morning, what is going on currently in the country, in Nigerian politics would it have happened when we were governors? You said no. And the answer is no,” Amaechi said, highlighting the proactive and radical approach they had during their leadership.
Amaechi emphasized that both he and Lamido would have confronted the government and the president in their effort to bring about change. “We would have confronted the government, confronted the president. That’s how radical you were. That’s how our Governors Forum operated. That’s how determined we were to change things,” he stated.
Reflecting on their political relationship, Amaechi recalled their close partnership during their time in government and the disagreements that eventually led to their parting of ways. “We were quite good friends in government. We had our bad times when we disagreed. I made the mistake of assuming he was as radical as I was,” Amaechi said.
He further discussed the point of divergence, explaining that when they opposed then-President Goodluck Jonathan, Lamido chose to join the Social Democratic Party (SDP), while Amaechi and others in the Governors Forum aligned with the All Progressives Congress (APC). “The last one before we broke ranks was when we all agreed to go against President Jonathan. We formed a committee of governors and others. At the end of the day, he went to find a new party, the SDP. We said, ‘If we go to the SDP, we will lose the election. Let’s hang on to this one called the APC.’ He disagreed and left us. That’s where we parted ways,” Amaechi explained.
The event, which saw the public presentation of Being True to Myself, a memoir by Sule Lamido, also featured insightful reflections on their shared experiences in leadership and the political dynamics of Nigeria during their tenure.
