Former Minister of Transportation and erstwhile Rivers State governor, Rotimi Amaechi, has challenged President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s claims that he single-handedly made late former President Muhammadu Buhari emerge victorious in the 2015 presidential election.

Reacting to the purported claims on Arise Television on Friday, Amaechi said Buhari’s victory was the outcome of collective political efforts within the All Progressives Congress (APC).

According to the former Rivers State Governor,  he played a central role in mobilising support nationwide during the campaign, but he could not openly dispute Tinubu’s claim while serving in Buhari’s administration because doing so could have jeopardised his position.

Amaechi maintained that his role as Director-General of Buhari’s presidential campaign and his position as Chairman of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum placed him at the centre of the political mobilisation that led to the APC’s historic victory in 2015.

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“When we decided to form the APC, while I was a minister, President Tinubu was claiming he made Buhari president, and I couldn’t respond because I was a minister under President Buhari,” Amaechi said.

“That would have been suicidal because Buhari could fire you. I couldn’t have said no then. He wasn’t the president. I couldn’t tell him, ‘You are wrong. You didn’t make President Buhari president.’”

“Not only was I the DG of the campaign, but everybody will bear witness that I did all the battle,” he added.

The former Rivers governor noted that although the APC came into office on the promise of “change,” the administration recorded mixed outcomes during its time in power.

Amaechi also dismissed speculations linking him to a vice-presidential ambition ahead of the 2027 elections, insisting that his focus remains solely on the presidency amid ongoing discussions surrounding the presidential ticket of the African Democratic Congress.