2023: Buhari's minister finally speaks on alleged presidential ambition
- Transportation minister, Rotimi Amaechi, said he is focused on delivering his duties and not 2023 elections
- The minister said this in reaction to his alleged interest in succeeding President Buhari in 2023
- Amaechi reacting to a claim that he went to Taraba state for a campaign said even if he is interested in the presidency, he won't start campaigning two years before the poll
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Rotimi Amaechi, the minister of transportation, has asked not to be distracted about the politics of 2023, saying he is not a politician.
Amaechi said this while responding to a question about his alleged interest in succeeding President Muhammadu Buhari in 2023 during an Arise TV Interview, Daily Trust reported.
The transportation minister said he is preoccupied with delivering on the various railway projects across the country, adding that he could not combine the ministerial duties with politics.
Amaechi noted that even if he has a 2023 ambition, he wouldn’t have started two years to the election because he is not a rich man.
He explained that his recent visit to Taraba state was strictly for a wedding ceremony, contrary to insinuations in some quarters that it was a campaign visit.
His words:
“I went to Taraba for a wedding. At the end of the wedding, if you see plenty news that was out of Taraba. Mischievously, it was reported that I went to campaign, campaign to do what?
"The election is about two years plus away, am I that rich even if I have ambition? I have told you, can you people allow me do my work?
"I am the Minister for Transport and that is my responsibility, nobody should keep talking to me about politics, that was why I said on several occasions that I am not a politician. Please allow me do my work.”
Amaechi served two terms as governor of Rivers state and was also speaker of the Rivers state House of Assembly for eight years.
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In a similar development, former President Goodluck Jonathan has repeatedly maintained that it is too early in the day to start discussing the 2023 elections.
The former president gives such a reply whenever he is asked if he has any plan to contest in the next presidential election.
However, the growing rapport between Jonathan and some leaders of the All Progressives Congress (APC) is causing anxiety in the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
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Nurudeen Lawal is a Legit.ng journalist passionate about fact-checking/verification journalism. He holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Literature-in-English from Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Osun State. As Politics Editor, Nurudeen mostly writes on Nigeria’s political and socio-economic developments. He has attended different workshops, conferences and training on fact-checking and digital reporting, among others. Learn more about him on Twitter, @Nurudeen Lawal_
Source: Legit.ng