By Emeka Okafor
The Minister of Transportation, Hon. Rotimi Amaechi, has formally declared his intension to contest the 2023 presidential race on the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC).
Amaechi, an immediate past governor of Rivers State, made the declaration on Saturday in Port Harcourt, Rivers State.
He spoke at Amiesimaka Stadium Port Harcourt, venue, where the Rivers APC Thanksgiving service is currently holding.
Amaechi told crowd of supporters “I stand before you today to declare my intention and submit my application to serve as your next President.”
The former governor had been severally rumoured to succeed President Muhammadu Buhari in 2023 as the party zoned her presidential ticket to the Southern part of Nigeria.
Amaechi, an ally of Buhari, has served twice as the head of Buhari’s campaign in 2015 and 2019.
Amaechi has been in government since 1999, serving two terms as Speaker of the Rivers State House of Assembly (1999-2007), two terms as Governor of Rivers (2007-2015). He is one of the few ministers President Muhammadu Buhari reappointed in 2019.
