Former Rivers State Governor Rotimi Amaechi joined protesters in Abuja on Tuesday to oppose the Senate’s rejection of mandatory real-time electronic transmission of election results, bringing his son along to the demonstration.
Addressing newsmen, Amaechi said he brought his son, a medical doctor, to provide immediate medical assistance in the event the protest turned violent.
He explained that his decision was also meant to counter claims that politicians encourage protests while keeping their families away from the risks.
“The reason is that I believe there should be more Nigerians out here now. I had always told them, ‘When there’s a protest, all of us should come out.’ There are those who say that we politicians want protests, but our children are overseas.
“Here’s my first son; I brought him here to join. He’s a medical doctor; his job is, if there’s an injury, he should treat the injured ones,” he said.
Speaking further on the purpose of the protest, the former governor accused the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) of opposing electronic transmission of election results out of fear of losing elections.
He called on opposition parties to mobilise their members and join the protest.
“I believe that the opposition parties should come out—PDP, ADC, everybody should be out—to protest against the attempt of one party,” he said.
Amaechi also dismissed concerns that the protest could be hijacked by opposition parties, arguing that the ruling party was already exerting undue control over the political process.
“If we come out, and they say the opposition has hijacked the protest, what is APC doing? Are they not hijacking? What are they afraid of? I thought they said they have 31 governors. Tinubu is not Jonathan. The only way a good politician will know he has done well is by the people,” he said.
The former transport minister then urged Nigerians to mobilise in large numbers towards the cause, stressing that a strong public presence was necessary to counter heavy security deployment at protests.
“Whether we like it or not, these men will bring policemen, so we must mobilise to match police for police. We must let them know that if they are 370,000, when they see people who have come out, they will join us”.
According to him, the electronic transmission of results would go a long way in minimizing the violence and bloodshed that often accompanies elections.
“What we have now is that every election, people are dying in their droves, in large numbers, and people don’t care,” he said, adding that political leaders remain insulated from such violence, while ordinary citizens face danger on election day.
“On election day, Senator Akpabio will be in his mansion with police and army protecting him, while people like us will be in the field, and they’re rigging the election. If you think they won’t rig, you’re wasting time; we must come out in large numbers,” Amaechi said.
On matters of insecurity, Amaechi further criticised the government, arguing that President Bola Tinubu only reacted when international pressure mounted.
“The problem is not Akpabio; even the president doesn’t think the citizens matter. The only time the president reacted to insecurity was when Americans said they were killing Christians; that’s when he felt his office was threatened. He doesn’t care about Nigerians,” he said.