By JOHNSON AYANTUNJI

Even with almost three years still left for President Muhammadu Buhari to serve out his term, a group by the name ‘Think Nigerian First Initiative (TNFI)’ has begun to sell Transportation Minister, Rotimi Chibuike Amaechi, to the North, as a possible successor to Buhari in 2023.

TNFI commissioned a popular female musician Sadiya Yarima to do a video clip listing the qualities of Amaechi as a friend of the North and a reliable ally of Buhari, who has demonstrated over the years that he is a patriot. The almost nine-minute video clip, which was done in Hausa language in order to appeal to its target audience, has gone viral.

A stanza from the all-female vocalists group goes thus: ‘Get up and let’s go our Transport Minister Rotimi Amaechi, a patriot and trusted Nigerian.

‘No one can separate us, a reliable Buhari ally.

“Your performance is stellar. You are our pride.

“You are a bridge builder loved by North and South.

“You enriched transportation, You constructed new railways in the country, we are happy with you.”

A source close to a former governor of a South Westerns state at the same time Amaechi was in Rivers State, said the video is meant to wet the grounds for the project ahead of 2023.

“The campaigns have started in earnest,” our source said.

Our source explained: “There are permutations that Governor Nasiru El-Rufai of Kaduna State wants to run with Minister of Transportation Rotimi Amaechi in 2023.

“There is the belief that the North is not comfortable with an Igbo presidency. It will be impolitic to have another person from the South West to run soon, especially since Prof. Yemi Osinbajo is from there and will have also been in office for eight years. So they believe that Amaechi is a cross breed. He is an Ikere from Rivers and Ikeres are Ibos as there are many of them who bear Amaechi. Going by the unwritten gentleman’s agreement of rotation to field a candidate from the South, Amaechi is seen as a candidate we can trust.

“Another thing to look at is the fact that he heads a cash cow ministry – Transportation under which you have the Nigeria Ports Authority (NPA), Nigeria Maritime Security Agency (NIMASA). So there is potential huge war chess to prosecute the election.

“Besides, they believe that it is payback time. He did not only direct the Buhari campaign organisation, he also funded it.”

•Text (excluding headline) courtesy of New Telegraph.

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