Rotimi Amaechi, the former Minister of Transportation under the immediate past administration of President Muhammadu Buhari, has mentioned two names of ministers serving under President Bola Tinubu, whom he claimed he brought into the limelight in politics.

Amaechi, who was a two-term governor of Rivers state, made the revelation while speaking in an interview on Channel Television on Thursday, July 3.

Amaechi speaks on his defection to ADC

The former governor made the comment while speaking after his defection from the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) to the African Democratic Congress (ADC), a party which was adopted by the former Vice President Atiku Abubakar-led coalition movement.

The coalition has positioned itself to defeat President Tinubu in the 2027 general election. Amaechi, who has been holding political office since 1992, has become the major critic of the ruling party and the government of President Tinubu, just two years after leaving power.

During his interview on Thursday, Amaechi claimed he brought Nyesom Wike and Festus Keyamo into politics.

Nyesom Wike

Amaechi in the interview challenged Wike, who currently serves as the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) and also Amaechi's successor in Rivers state, saying Wike should allow the two of them to walk the streets of Port Harcourt together without their security details and see who commands the crowd among them.

He questioned why the FCT Minister does not respect him, owing to the fact that he is older than him and also brought Wike into politics. The former governor said:

“Let the Minister of the FCT come, let’s take a walk from the airport to Port Harcourt, no police, no army, nothing, just the two of us. I don’t know why he doesn’t respect people like us; I am older. I brought him up in politics. Who is he?”

Festus Keyamo

Amaechi, in the interview, also claimed to have brought the current Minister of Aviation and Aerospace, Festus Keyamo, into politics. The former governor said he made Keyamo the spokesperson to the former President Muhammadu Buhari.

Legit.ng recalled that Keyamo was appointed as the Director of Strategic Communications (Official Spokesperson) of the 2019 re-election bid of the President of Nigeria. But Amaechi, in the interview, said he orchestrated the appointment then.

When Amaechi was asked to respond to Keyamo's criticism of the coalition movement, the former minister said: "I brought him (Festus Keyamo) into APC. I brought him into politics. I made him Buhari's spokesman."