African Democratic Congress (ADC) vice-presidential candidate, Rotimi Amaechi has pledged to resign if Nigeria does not begin to change within one year of an ADC administration taking office, saying the country is “in trouble” and must urgently address insecurity, the economy and corruption.

Speaking in an interview on AIT on Wednesday night, Amaechi said he was not promising to solve every national problem within a year, but insisted Nigerians would see tangible improvements. “This time I will say this: if Nigeria does not change one year after we get into office, come to me, and I will resign,” he said. “You will have a breath of fresh air,” he added, according to The Nation.

Amaechi blamed corruption and the diversion of public funds for Nigeria’s failure to address its challenges. “You must deal with insecurity, economy, and corruption before this country can progress.

And to do all that, corruption will have to come down because there is no money for anybody to steal,” he said. He argued that the funds meant to tackle national problems were sitting in private pockets. “Tinubu removed subsidy, what are the benefits of subsidy when the money is in private pockets?” he asked.

He described a stark contrast between poverty in the North and lavish spending in the South. “That’s why you see people in the South holding private parties and in the North people are dying,” he said. “With the level of hunger, when they invite me to private parties, I just sit down and wonder where they get the money from going by how high poverty is in Nigeria”.

Amaechi raised alarm over Nigeria’s reliance on imported finished goods. “We import over 46 per cent of finished goods; Nigeria is in trouble,” he said. He also referenced what he described as public discontent with President Bola Tinubu. “I watched people boo Tinubu from the Lagos International Airport to his house. If we become president, nobody will do that, they will be clapping for us because we will change Nigeria”.

On the economy, Amaechi defended ADC presidential candidate Atiku Abubakar’s proposal to support local refining through a production subsidy, arguing that the removal of the fuel subsidy had raised transport and production costs with knock-on effects on food, housing and other essentials.

Under the plan, government would sell crude oil to domestic refiners below the international benchmark, with the price difference serving as the subsidy. “For instance, if the international market price of crude oil is N15,000, Dangote has a refinery, there are those who have modular refineries. So you say to them, ‘Look gentlemen, we will sell to you at N10,000. Our subsidy is the N5,000 you are not paying,’” he explained.

He said the administration would prioritise agriculture and its entire value chain, including processing and industrialisation. “We are raw material producers. So, we will therefore not only produce, we’ll encourage production, we’ll fund production, but we’ll also encourage the entire value chain,” he said.

Amaechi linked the economic agenda to insecurity, arguing that job creation would reduce the number of Nigerians vulnerable to recruitment by criminal groups. Citing his record as Rivers State governor, he said he “fought insecurity in Rivers State and brought it down,” combining security measures with employment, agricultural support and community development through the Rivers State Sustainable Development Agency.

He named security, education and the economy as the three areas Nigeria must address to progress.

Amaechi also explained his decision not to support Tinubu in 2023, citing concerns over insecurity and the protection of lives and property. “I chose not to be part of government,” he said. “I told Tinubu when he came to me… I said, I won’t support you. I had the choice to say I will support you”. He accused the administration of focusing on arrests of political opponents and protesters rather than addressing insecurity, and compared Tinubu’s government unfavourably to the late General Sani Abacha’s military regime, saying what the President is doing now is “worse than what Abacha did”.