African Democratic Congress vice-presidential candidate, Rotimi Amaechi, has said he would abandon his bid for the 2027 presidency and support President Bola Tinubu if petrol sells for ₦600 per litre from tomorrow.
Amaechi made the declaration on Friday while appearing on Politics Today on Channels Television, where he challenged the Federal Government’s assertion that its economic reforms were ushering Nigerians into an era of prosperity.
The former Rivers State governor questioned whether the government’s economic policies had produced tangible relief for citizens, particularly in the areas of fuel prices, transportation costs and the general cost of living.
He argued that official claims about an improving economy should be measured against the experiences of ordinary Nigerians who continue to pay for transportation and other essential services.
Amaechi also challenged the administration to demonstrate how its economic reforms had translated into cheaper goods and services for households across the country.
Responding to the government’s optimism about the state of the economy, he said Nigerians had yet to experience a substantial reduction in living costs despite assurances that the country had overcome its economic difficulties.
The ADC candidate said he intended to personally visit a filling station the following morning to establish the prevailing petrol price instead of depending on information provided by his aides.
He said: “If fuel has come down to 600, I will campaign for President Tinubu. If fuel comes down tomorrow to 600, I will campaign for President Tinubu.”
Amaechi subsequently invited the programme’s host to accompany him to a filling station with a camera so that the price of petrol could be independently verified.
“Tomorrow, if you doubt, come with your camera in the morning to the house and I will go to the fuel station and I will buy fuel,” he said.
The former governor went further by pledging to give up his position on the ADC ticket if petrol actually dropped to ₦600 per litre.
“If it comes down to this, I, Rotimi Chibuike Amaechi, will withdraw as the vice-presidential candidate of Atiku and campaign for President Tinubu if it has come down,” he stated.
His remarks come amid an ongoing national debate over the consequences of the Federal Government’s economic reforms, particularly the removal of the petrol subsidy and the subsequent changes in fuel prices.
Amaechi questioned the administration’s position that Nigerians were beginning to benefit from the reforms, arguing that transportation costs remained an important measure of the economic burden facing households.
He cited transport fares on major routes as an example and asked whether commuters had experienced any meaningful reduction in the cost of movement.
“Go to the person that goes by transport and ask how much it costs to move from Nyanya to Abuja. Has anything come down? Or Ubima to Port Harcourt? Has anything changed?” he asked.
The ADC vice-presidential candidate’s comments placed the price of petrol at the centre of his challenge to the government’s economic narrative, using the ₦600-per-litre threshold as the condition for his stated decision to withdraw from the 2027 contest and support Tinubu.
