Former Minister of Transportation Rotimi Amaechi has stated that corrupt Nigerian politicians will continue to loot public funds unless citizens aggressively demand accountability and confront the ruling class.
A former Minister of Transportation and chieftain of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), Rotimi Amaechi, has declared that Nigerian politicians will continue to loot public funds indiscriminately unless citizens rise up to demand absolute accountability. Amaechi made the remarks on Friday, May 22, 2026, during a live interview on Arise Television’s Prime Time program, where he lamented what he described as the steady, agonizing collapse of systemic governance across the federation. The former Rivers State governor stressed that he had spent years trying to warn the populace about the parasitic nature of the political class, reiterating that public officers have remained comfortable with enriching themselves at the direct expense of an increasingly impoverished citizenry.
The vocal politician accused his peers of weaponizing poverty to weaken public resistance, insisting that a vast majority of current public office holders have fundamentally failed the people who elected them. While expressing deep pain over the declining standard of administrative leadership in the country, Amaechi clarified that his indictment does not sweepingly condemn every single individual in public life. He defended his own legacy and maintained that a few past and present state executives have genuinely attempted to deliver positive developmental milestones, though their efforts are being overshadowed by a broken systemic status quo.
Reflecting on his long-standing stance regarding public pushback against state-sponsored corruption, Amaechi reminded viewers of a previous warning he delivered during a civil society gathering. “As a governor of Rivers State at Freedom House in a ceremony organised by Prof Wole Soyinka, I told Nigerians that we the politicians will not stop stealing if Nigerians don’t stone us. The politicians are impoverishing Nigerians. I’m a different politician and there are others as well. A lot of governors have made positive contributions. But governance is slowly dying and it’s quite painful,” he added. His controversial statements have since ignited a fierce national conversation, coming at a time when the country is grappling with severe economic hardships, soaring inflation, and heightened public frustration over governance.
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