Former Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi, has said the hardship under President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s administration has become so intense that many Nigerians are now yearning for the return of former President Muhammadu Buhari.

Amaechi, who spoke in Abuja, said Nigeria had been “completely destroyed” and could not be rescued by a mere change of government.

“Inflation is at its peak. People cannot eat. People cannot buy food. There is no money to buy food. Everything is gone,” he said.

According to him, the country has become so difficult that Nigerians have started recalling the Buhari era with nostalgia.

“Now people want Buhari to come back. What happens in Nigeria is that each new government ends up being worse than the last, and people begin to long for the previous one,” he stated.

Amaechi, who announced his resignation from the All Progressives Congress (APC) on Tuesday night, said he had long withdrawn from the party’s activities.

The former minister announced his membership of the African Democratic Congress (ADC)

He said, “I left APC last night (Tuesday). I never attended one meeting. The last time they invited me, I warned them. In fact, I was surprised I was not expelled. I wrote to them not to invite me again. You cannot be in a club where the majority of people are stealing and you do not say anything,” he stated.

On why he is now criticising the government he once served, the former governor of Rivers State said it was not just about changing leadership but about fixing the country.

He explained that there is the need to start a movement, not just a party that brings Nigerians together to take over the government for themselves rather than for “us”.

The former minister maintained that he never believed Tinubu was fit to lead the country adding “I have never believed that Tinubu is material to govern the country. I never have”.

He criticised the handling of the economy, citing the fall of the naira as one of the administration’s biggest failures.

“The dollar was about 460 or 500 under Buhari. Now it is 1580. That is more than a 100 percent increase,” he noted.

Asked whether the currency crisis could be part of a deliberate policy, Amaechi said “Whether it is a deliberate government policy or not, any government that does not consider the wellbeing of its people cannot call it a policy.”

Also joining Amaechi in the move to the opposition coalition is former Minister of Justice and Attorney General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami, who also announced his resignation from the APC.

Their defection, alongside other prominent figures, is seen as a major realignment in the build-up to the 2027 general elections with the ADC positioning itself as a new platform to challenge the ruling party.