The former Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi, has congratulated the National Leader of the All Progressives Congress, Bola Tinubu, over his emergence as the presidential candidate of the party.
Amaechi, in a letter, also assured Tinubu of his support during the 2023 presidential election.
Tinubu defeated 12 other presidential aspirants including Amaechi and Vice President Yemi Osinbajo to clinch the APC ticket.
The main opposition, the Peoples Democratic Party on May 29 elected former Vice President Atiku Abubakar as its presidential candidate for the 2023 general election.
Tinubu, who contested the party’s presidential ticket with 13 other aspirants, got a total of 1,271 votes at the election to emerge APC presidential candidate.
Amaechi, a former Governor of Rivers State, came second with 316 votes, while Osinbajo came third with 235 delegate votes.
Part of the letter read, “Congratulations on your well-deserved victory at the APC Presidential Convention held on 07 – 08 June 2022 and extend my best wishes as you prepare for the 2023 Presidential Elections.
“I am confident that your victory will re-energize the progressive ideals of our great party APC, buttressed by your mission of a Common Sense Revolution which led to the defeat of PDP in the 2015 general elections.
“As you embark on this historic journey I wish to assure you of my commitment to your success at the polls in 2023.and ultimately look forward to providing the necessary support to ensure that we develop a prosperous country for all Nigerians.”
Over 2,000 delegates drawn from the 36 states and FCT will elect the APC presidential candidate from the 23 aspirants jostling for the ticket of the ruling party at today’s primary.
The ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) is set for its special convention to elect its presidential candidate for the 2023 elections.
The convention will hold for the next three days (June 6-8) at the Eagle Square in the nation’s capital, Abuja.
It was initially scheduled for May 29 and 30 but was postponed after the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) shifted the deadline for political parties to pick their candidates for the general elections from June 3 to June 9.
A total of 2,322 ad-hoc delegates drawn from the 36 states and FCT are expected to participate in the primary to elect the APC flag bearer out of the 23 aspirants jostling for the ticket.
The aspirants are Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, former Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi, former Science and Technology Minister, Ogbonnaya Onu, former Minister of State for Education, Chukwuemeka Nwajiuba and former Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Godswill Akpabio.
There are also five serving governors, namely Yahaya Bello (Kogi), Dave Umahi (Ebonyi), Abubakar Badaru (Jigawa), Ben Ayade (Cross River) and Kayode Fayemi (Ekiti).
Also in the race are former Lagos State governor, Bola Tinubu, former Ogun State governor and serving senator, Ibikunle Amosun, former Zamfara governor, Ahmad Sani, former Imo State governor and serving senator, Rochas Okorocha.
There are also the Senate President, Ahmad Lawan, a former Senate President, Ken Nnamani, a former Speaker of the House of Representatives, Dimeji Bankole, and a serving senator, Ajayi Boroffice.
Also gunning for the APC ticket are two clerics, Tunde Bakare and Felix Nicholas as well as a former Information Minister, Ikeobasi Mokelu, a businessman, Tein Jack-Rich, and the only female among them, Uju Ken-Ohanenye.
All 23 aspirants had been cleared by the seven-member screening committee of the party headed by former National Chairman, John Odigie-Oyegun.
The committee had in its report submitted on Friday shortlisted 13 aspirants but encouraged the party to allow everyone to participate in the event of inability to reach voluntary withdrawal from the race.
Twenty-eight nomination and expression of interest forms were procured by aspirants and support groups. However, former President Goodluck Jonathan, Central Bank Governor Godwin Emefiele and AfBD President Akinwumi Adeshina rejected the forms procured for them by support groups. Two ministers, Chris Ngige (Labour and Employment) and Timipre Sylva (State, Petroleum Resources) opted out of the race.
The journey to the convention has been very rough for the party– partly due to the internal wrangling as well as poor planning.
The days leading up to the convention had been fraught with controversies, bickering, lobbying, meetings and threats.
Moves by some party members, including President Muhammadu Buhari to ensure the emergence of a consensus candidate from among the array of aspirants were unsuccessful.
On Saturday, the president held a meeting with the aspirants during which he asked them to go and chose a consensus candidate among themselves.
“I urge all of you to hold consultations amongst yourselves and with the party, with a view to building a consensus in a manner that would help the party reduce the number of aspirants, bring up a formidable candidate and scale down the anxiety of party members,” Mr Buhari said
The same day, 10 APC governors in the north backed the shift of presidential power to the south, a boost to the demand of the southern governor for power to return to the south. The aspirants from the north are expected to exit the race given the decision by the governors. However, they are still in the race.
However, barring any last minute changes, all 23 aspirants will slug it out at the convention.
The party says it is ready for the convention for which it recently constituted 18 subcommittees. The Eagle Square venue of the event has been given a face lift.
The Chairman of the Convention Planning Committee, Governor Atiku Bagudu of Kebbi State, said many people have been at work to ensure the success of the event.
APC National Chairman, Abdullahi Adamu, said the convention is a bit different from the previous convention because it is the first transition convention of the ruling party.
PREMIUM TIMES is at the convention ground to bring you live updates of the event.
The Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi, has reportedly resigned from the Federal Executive Council (FEC) ahead of the 2023 general elections.
The trio of Godswill Akpabio (Niger Delta), Ogbonnaya Onu (Science and Technology) and Emeka Nwajiuba (Education) had earlier resigned from the Federal Government to pursue their interest in the 2023 elections.
The ministers are among the All Progressives Congress (APC) aspirants eyeing the party’s presidential ticket at this month’s primary in Abuja.
President Muhammadu Buhari had during Wednesday’s FEC meeting in Abuja directed all political office holders with designs in the 2023 elections to leave their positions latest by May 16.
Amaechi’s resignation was confirmed by the United Kingdom chapter of APC on its Twitter handle on Wednesday evening.
The chapter wrote:
“Nigeria’s Minister of #Transportation, HM Chibuike R. Amaechi [@ChibuikeAmaechi] has resigned from the Federal Executive Council (FEC) to focus on his Presidential Campaign.
“Thank you for your service to Nigeria.”
However, there has been no official confirmation of the former Rivers State governor’s resignation by his media team.
The Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi, said on Friday the Federal Government would explore an alternative funding mechanism to modernise the country’s rail system in line with its 25-year Strategy Vision.
The minister stated this during the 2021 Annual Public Lecture organised by the Department of Economics, Faculty of Social Science, University of Lagos, Akoka.
He said the federal government had recovered most of the failed locations on the Narrow Gauge corridor and also taking precautions in the Environment Impact Assessment (EIA) report on the standard gauge corridors.
Amaechi said: “All the new contracts for railway projects were embedded with rich technology transfer clauses, capacity building and Conversational Skills Rating (CSRs) domestic appropriate knowledge and skill.
The establishment of rail projects was to reduce the cost of transportation and boost the economy since economic activity drives development in any country.
“All the regions in the country would have been connected with rail transportation but for lack of sustainable funding plan, environmental issues, degenerated infrastructure, theft of railway materials and obsolete legal framework.”
The minister appealed to community leaders and civil society organisations to join in the fight against vandalisation of railway infrastructure across the country.
The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has slammed the President Muhammadu Buhari administration, accusing it of shielding corrupt officials.
This response by the opposition came in the wake of a comment credited to Rotimi Amaechi, minister of transportation, who said anyone stealing public funds under the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari is doing so “quietly”.
In its statement, the PDP spokesman, Kola Ologbondiyan stated that Amaechi’s statement was an indictment on the President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration famed for its anti-corruption stance.
The PDP said, “The confession by the Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi, that stealing is going on quietly under the President Muhammadu Buhari-led All Progressives Congress (APC) vindicates its stand that the APC is a haven of thieves and treasury looters,” the statement reads.
The party asserts that the confession also further confirms that the Buhari-led APC administration has been providing official cover for corrupt officials, who have turned government agencies to cash cows and Automated Teller Machines (ATM) for themselves, their cronies, family members, and mistresses.
“The situation as presented by Amaechi shows that ‘quiet stealing’ is a policy of the APC administration. This explains why the administration is heavy on propaganda and has failed to prosecute its officials and APC leaders openly indicted for corruption, but only resort to “easing out” such thieves with a pat on the wrist.”
The Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi, has revealed that work on the proposed Lagos-Calabar railway will commence before the end of this year.
Amaechi made this disclosure during his delivery at the 34th Convocation Lecture of the University of Calabar with the topic: “The National Question and the Challenges of Nationhood in Nigeria” in Calabar, on Friday, March 26.
The former Rivers governor said the Buhari administration was committed to massive infrastructural development across the country.
In a few weeks from now, we are going to sign the loan agreement for the commencement of the Lagos-Calabar project and before the end of the year, contractors will move to site,” he said.
He added: “The President Buhari administration has embarked on railway construction and rehabilitation from Port Harcourt to Maiduguri, from Ibadan to Kano, and from Abuja to Kauran Namoda, among others.
“We are also renewing the Lord Lugard railway line that has been out of effective service for decades,” he said.
The Minister of Transportation, Mr Rotimi Amaechi, has said that narrow gauge rail lines were not inferior to the standard gauge lines.
He made this clarification in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Sunday, March 14, in Lagos.
According to him, the only difference between the two lines was speed.
Amaechi was reacting to allegations that the narrow gauge lines were inferior, sub-standard, and outdated in other parts of the world.
Ripples Nigeria gathered that some stakeholders had accused the minister of recommending the narrow gauge to the federal government instead of the standard gauge to maximise the benefits of modern rail transportation.
However, Amaechi explained that the Eastern rail line was going to have both the narrow and standard gauges, adding that the cost of the standard gauge, feasibility, and time frame informed the choice.
The minister said it was cheaper to rehabilitate the narrow gauge, which would cost about $3.2 billion dollars, and could be delivered within the approved time frame.
Amaechi said that the standard gauge lines was going to cost about $11 to 14 billion dollars to construct, adding that getting the funds within the limited time was not feasible because of other projects awaiting funding.
The standard gauge line is between $11 to 14 billion dollars to construct on the Eastern flag, the standard gauge as designed in Nigeria is 150km design speed, operational speed is 120km; what is the difference between 120km and 100km? The narrow gauge is about $3.2 billion dollars at 100km per hour.
The narrow gauge is cheaper at $3 billion against the $11 to $14 billion to construct the standard gauge. Why we did not get the approval for the narrow gauge on time was because of the President’s insistence on the standard gauge from Port Harcourt-Maiduguri.
“My argument was if I can achieve the same length of rail with $3 billion dollars why not take that first until when we get money, we can now go for the standard gauge.
“The difference made him approved the standard gauge as designed but until we get the money, because if we continue to wait until we get the $11 billion to &14 billion, we may not be able to construct the Eastern flag before we leave government,” Ameachi said. On his part, the Managing Director, Nigeria Railway Corporation (NRC), Mr Fidet Okhria, said that the narrow gauge line was not outdated or less efficient, stating that there should not be a comparison.
Okhiria said that Nigeria was the first African country to introduce standard gauge lines, noting that South Africa and other African countries still use the narrow gauge lines.
“In the whole of Africa, Nigeria is the only country that has introduced a standard gauge line.
“South Africa, India, and other countries are still using the narrow gauge lines introduced by their colonial masters, other African countries are still using what the colonial masters constructed.
“The Eastern rail line has both the standard and the narrow gauge lines to be constructed; the narrow gauge will be rehabilitated now because the fund is available but the reality of getting the $13 billion now to construct the standard gauge line is not feasible.
So, the narrow gauge is not inferior in any way, the difference is in the speed and it cannot carry more load like the standard gauge because the standard gauge is wider while the narrow gauge is narrower which doesn’t make it less effective than the standard gauge.
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