Rotimi Amaechi, former governor of Rivers state, says he is “hungry.”

Amaechi made this statement on Friday while commenting on the “state of the economy” during an event organized to mark his “60th birthday anniversary.”

Amaechi served as “two-term governor of Rivers state from 2007 to 2015” after which he was “appointed as minister of transportation” by ex-President Muhammadu Buhari. He was also the “chairman of the Nigerian Governors’ Forum from 2011 to 2015.”

Before becoming governor, he was the “speaker of the Rivers house of assembly between 1999 and 2007.” He had also served as the “pioneer chairman of Nigeria’s conference of speakers of state assemblies.”

Amaechi has been in “Nigeria’s political space for over two decades.” His “hunger complaint” comes less than a “three-year hiatus from active politics.”

Amaechi “contested against President Bola Tinubu” at the “All Progressives Congress (APC) presidential primary election of 2022.” He came second with “316 votes” while Tinubu won the poll with “1,271 votes.”

The former minister, however, said he “did not vote nor work for Tinubu” during the “2023 presidential election” despite being in the same party.

“My passport was seized in Germany, I did nothing. My offense is that I’m carrying a green passport. They kept me for nearly 30 minutes and I was going for a medical check up in Vienna. So if you’re not ashamed, I’m,” Amaechi said.

“Nigerian elites are not the problems of Nigeria. The problems of Nigeria are the followership. There are no capitalists in Nigeria; capitalists are those with capital to invest for production. Do we produce here? I look at Nigeria and ask what are we doing here? Do we really want to be a country? What is important is how do we change this country?

“We’re all hungry, all of us are. If you’re not hungry, I’m. For us, the opposition, if you want us to remove the man in power, we can remove him from this power.

“In Nigeria, there are no capitalist ideas among the politicians; it’s about sharing.”

Citing instances when he “joined protests in the past,” Amaechi said with the “help of the opposition,” Tinubu can be “removed from office” during the “2027 presidential election.”

He said that Nigerians are the problems because they “do nothing” when the government policies “truncate the standard of living,” referencing when “fuel prices went up” despite “protests from citizens.”

The All Progressives Congress has denied the accusations made by Solomon Dalung, a former Minister of Youth and Sports Development, who alleged that a strong group of individuals has taken over the administration of President Bola Tinubu.

Ajibola Basiru, the APC National Secretary, questioned Dalung’s integrity and criticized his track record as a former minister.

Who is Dalung? What was his scorecard when he served as a minister? He clearly lacks the intellectual depth to engage in matters of governance, Basiru said.

Dalung mentioned during an interview (with The Punch) that he had anticipated the situation even before President Tinubu was sworn in on May 29, 2023.

He claimed that Tinubu had never been fully in charge of his government right from the beginning.

From the time I met Tinubu as an aspirant to the moment he was elected, I knew we would end up exactly where we are today, Dalung said.

Just days before his inauguration, I was with some Yoruba elders and warned them that Tinubu’s government had already been hijacked by a sophisticated cabal.

They accused me of harbouring hatred toward him, but I was simply telling the truth, he added.

Dalung, who is a lawyer and political analyst, referred to specific events to support his claim, including the announcement of fuel subsidy removal on the day Tinubu was inaugurated.

There was no cabinet in place, just the President and Vice President, yet a major economic policy—the removal of subsidy—was announced.

That decision alone triggered a chain reaction: fuel prices soared, the cost of living skyrocketed, transportation, school fees—everything became more expensive, he said.

He likened his situation to that of the biblical prophet Jeremiah, saying he saw the hardship coming and is now living through its effects, left with only lamentations.

When asked if his concerns were similar to previous criticisms of former President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration, Dalung agreed there were similarities but said this current group was more dangerous.

Buhari’s cabal was made up of inexperienced people. Many of them had no idea how to run a government. Tinubu’s cabal, on the other hand, is filled with experienced, cunning, and highly ambitious individuals. They are manipulative and far more sophisticated, he explained.

Basiru, in response, dismissed the notion of a cabal, citing the presence and activity of democratic institutions like the National Assembly.

What cabal is he talking about when the National Assembly is there? His analysis is not only lazy but also devoid of substance. It’s hard to dignify such ignorance with a serious response, he added.

He accused people like Dalung of refusing to move on from the loss they experienced in the 2023 elections and of making baseless accusations to tarnish the government.

People like him are still traumatised by the outcome of the last election. No matter what the administration does, they remain blind to the progress being made. They are determined to see nothing work, even when the evidence is clear, he said.

He ended by affirming the administration’s focus and commitment to governance: As Mr President has made clear, we will not be distracted by armchair critics. Those who are dissatisfied should meet us at the ballot box.

The Osun State Government has disclosed that it has been diverting funds originally intended for various development initiatives to cover the salaries of employees paid through the local government allocation.

Oluwole Jimi-Bada, the state’s Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, has taken legal action against the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Lateef Fagbemi, at the Supreme Court, contesting the Federal Government’s decision to withhold funds meant for local governments.

According to reports (by The Punch), the People’s Democratic Party and the All Progressives Congress in Osun State have been in conflict over control of the local councils following a ruling by the Akure Appeal Court regarding dismissed chairmen and councillors elected on October 12, 2022.

Chairmen elected under the APC claim that the court reinstated them, prompting their return to council offices throughout the state.

However, the state government and the PDP maintain that the judgment did not support the APC, and a fresh local government election conducted by the Osun State Independent Electoral Commission on February 21, 2025, resulted in the emergence of new council officials.

The political tensions led to violence in which six individuals, including Remi Abbas, the reinstated chairman of Irewole Local Government Area, were confirmed dead.

Addressing how the state has been handling the issue, the Commissioner for Information and Public Enlightenment, Kolapo Alimi, told The PUNCH on Sunday that the government is relying on a judicial resolution.

“It is quite unfortunate that our system is still undergoing this kind of scenario. It happened to Asiwaju Bola Tinubu when he was the governor, due to the creation of local government.

“The Lagos State allocations were not released for some time and nobody envisaged that such a thing would happen under the watch of President Tinubu.

“We didn’t want to escalate issues because we know that the judiciary will soon resolve it,” he said.

The commissioner explained that local government revenue is meant to cover the salaries and pensions of council employees, primary school teachers, retirees, and traditional rulers’ entitlements.

He said, “So if anybody is holding on to local government allocations, the effect of it is that that category of people will not get their salaries and allowances.

“It was deliberate, and we consider it as an act of wickedness, but when it happened, our government has been rallying around to ensure that all these categories of people do not suffer.”

Meanwhile, the APC in Osun has claimed that no funds were blocked, stating that the Federal Government is simply complying with a court ruling regarding the tenure of affected local government officials.

Kola Olabisi, the party’s spokesperson, blamed the ongoing situation on Governor Ademola Adeleke’s administration for not abiding by the Appeal Court’s decision.

“The Osun State Government is the architect of its own misfortune. It is the refusal to honour the Court of Appeal judgment which reinstated the council chairmen that is causing the crisis,” he said.

The APC spokesperson stated, “The Federal Government does not want to breach the law.

“You know, once a judgment is given and not challenged, it becomes the law.

“When the government knew it had a genuine reason to contest the February 10 judgment, why didn’t it take the more proper route by appealing to the Supreme Court?

“It is only an attention-seeking strategy and more so, there is a need for them to do that so that they can keep their members intact and give them false hope.”

He also refuted claims that the Federal Government was withholding local government allocations.

Abimbola Fasasi, the Chairman of the Trade Union Congress in the state, noted that the lack of access to local government funds has been disrupting council operations.

He expressed concern about the hardship this has caused, not only for council workers but for the state in general.

During an interview (with The Punch), Fasasi said, “Thank God for the kind of governor that we have in the state presently, who’s ready to serve selflessly and committed to the welfare of workers and the entire citizens.

“He is doing everything possible to reduce the effects of the withheld funds by ensuring continuous payments of our members at the grassroots through the IGR and prudent spending.”