Former Minister of Transportation Rotimi Amaechi has revisited the tense atmosphere surrounding Nigeria’s 2015 general election, describing how widespread citizen mobilisation was used to deter electoral manipulation and force accountability.
Speaking at a public forum, Amaechi argued that the strategy at the time was to make it clear that Nigerians would not passively accept a compromised process.
According to him, the message sent to power brokers was that electoral fraud would trigger serious national backlash.
“We deliberately raised the cost of rigging by mobilising people everywhere,” Amaechi said.
“Once citizens are alert and organised, those who want to manipulate the process begin to think twice.”
However, he turned his criticism inward, blaming growing voter apathy for weakening Nigeria’s democratic prospects.
He insisted that electoral reform cannot be imposed by the state but must be demanded and enforced by the electorate itself.
Moreover, Amaechi warned that persistent claims that results are already decided discourage participation and hand victory to incumbents.
“When people stay away from the polls, you end up with leaders elected by a minority,” he said, adding that low turnout distorts democratic legitimacy.
He further urged Nigerians to abandon ethnic and regional sentiments when choosing leaders, stressing that competence and capacity to govern should be the primary criteria.
In his words, leadership selection must focus on “who can actually fix the system, not where the person comes from.”
Reflecting on past opposition failures, Amaechi recalled how effective grassroots organisation in parts of the North limited rival campaigns.
He noted that in key states such as Kano, opposition parties struggled to gain traction because communities had already been politically energised.
Ultimately, Amaechi maintained that Nigeria’s democracy will only improve when citizens take ownership of the process.
“Once the people decide to defend their votes,” he said, “the system will have no choice but to respond.”