*Says “If Atiku Could Not Fix PDP as Vice President, How Can He Claim to Fix Nigeria?”
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Senator Adams Oshiomhole, former National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and representative of Edo North Senatorial District, launched scathing criticisms against former Transportation Minister Rotimi Amaechi and former Vice President Atiku Abubakar during a fiery interview on Channels Television’s Politics Today on Monday, accusing them of flawed leadership, misplaced priorities, and serial political opportunism.
Oshiomhole reserved his harshest words for Amaechi, whom he described as “the most terrible” among political figures, citing a litany of alleged missteps during his tenure. “Look at the choice of language. A guy who shut down Rivers judiciary because he wanted to appoint his own personal favourite as chief judge of Rivers State. Once he couldn’t have his way, the Rivers State judiciary was shut down for almost two years,” Oshiomhole said, painting Amaechi as a figure prone to authoritarian tendencies.
He further lambasted Amaechi’s handling of the railway sector over eight years, claiming the ex-minister “was unable to get the priorities right, playing to the gallery” by prioritizing a rail line to Niger Republic over critical domestic routes like Kano or Port Harcourt, Amaechi’s home state. “Which goods are we sending to Niger Republic?” Oshiomhole quipped, emphasizing what he called a disconnect from national needs.
Some critics and legal commentators dismissed Oshiomhole’s remarks as mere political noise, arguing that such criticism carries little weight given his tenure as APC national chairman, and questioning why he did not oppose the party’s policies at the time if he disagreed with them, noting that Nigerians are now wiser.
The senator also turned his ire on Atiku, who on Monday formally registered as a member of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) in his Jada ward in Adamawa State, ahead of the 2027 elections. Atiku, a founding member of the APC who has since returned to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), described his move as a response to the APC’s “disappointing performance” and the PDP’s predicted collapse. Oshiomhole dismissed this as hypocrisy, arguing that Atiku’s inability to reform the PDP during his vice presidency from 1999 to 2007 disqualifies him from claiming he can “fix Nigeria.”
“If Atiku as a former vice president under PDP could not fix PDP, he could not reconstruct it, he could not provide leadership… how can you lay claim to fix Nigeria?” Oshiomhole challenged. He accused Atiku of leveraging undue influence under former President Olusegun Obasanjo yet failing to stabilize his party, and mocked his history of decamping from PDP to Action Congress (AC) in 2006, back to PDP, to APC in 2014, and now to ADC.
Defending the APC’s record, Oshiomhole portrayed the party and its leaders, late President Muhammadu Buhari and current President Bola Tinubu, as committed reformers. He praised Buhari for granting ministers “free hand” to perform and highlighted Tinubu’s proactive steps on security, including replacing service chiefs with a no-excuses mandate and directing the recruitment of 30,000 additional police officers.
On the recent spike in school abductions and banditry, particularly in Kaduna and other northern states, Oshiomhole acknowledged public anxiety but attributed the surge to “frustration” among opposition figures like Amaechi and Atiku, whom he called “serially defeated candidates.” “The only thing Amaechi and Atiku have in common is frustration,” he said, suggesting political desperation might be fueling insecurity as a tactic ahead of 2027. He contrasted this with APC achievements, such as convictions of terrorists, DSS apprehensions, and a safer Nigeria compared to the PDP era, when Boko Haram controlled swathes of the Northeast and attacks hit Abuja’s police and UN headquarters.
The interview also touched on broader national debates. Oshiomhole addressed ongoing constitutional amendment efforts, set for discussions between the National Assembly’s joint committee and state governors on November 26.
Key proposals include devolving power, state policing, fiscal federalism, women’s representation, and local government autonomy. While supportive, he cautioned that reforms require consensus, two-thirds approval in the National Assembly and 24 state assemblies, rejecting shortcuts. He echoed calls for fast-tracking terrorism trials, criticizing lenient sentences that undermine deterrence.
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