Former Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi, has categorically ruled out accepting a vice-presidential slot in the 2027 general elections, insisting that he would rather serve as a minister than deputise any presidential candidate.
Amaechi made the declaration in Abuja on Tuesday amid rising speculation that he could emerge as a running mate to former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar, who is expected to seek the presidential ticket of the African Democratic Congress.
Speaking forthrightly, the former Rivers State governor dismissed the idea of playing second fiddle in any political arrangement, arguing that his political stature and convictions make such a role untenable.
“I will not be vice president to anybody,” Amaechi said. “There are many reasons for that. First, I am too presidential to be vice president.”
The former minister, who is also believed to be nursing a presidential ambition of his own, said his position was informed by the structural weaknesses of the vice-presidential office in Nigeria.
According to him, the problem is not ceremonial but systemic, as the office is constitutionally subordinate and largely dependent on the disposition and goodwill of the president, often leaving the occupant without real authority.
“In Nigeria, the vice president is designed to be powerless most of the time. Everything depends on the temperament of the president,” he said.
Amaechi warned that such an arrangement is prone to internal conflict, noting that it often leads to unnecessary friction at the top of government.
“We will quarrel. Instead of that, I would rather be a minister than be a vice president,” he added.
