Rotimi Amaechi, a former Rivers governor and minister of works, says he and other opposition politicians are as hungry as every Nigerian, urging the opposition to unite to seize power from President Bola Tinubu.

Mr Amaechi spoke at his birthday lecture in Abuja on Saturday. The lecture was attended by former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, former Kaduna Governor Nasir El-Rufai and other opposition politicians planning a coalition to challenge Mr Tinubu in the 2027 election.

“We are all hungry. All of us are. If you are not hungry, I am. So, for us, the opposition, if you want us to remove the man in power -Tinubu -we can remove him from this power,” Mr Amaechi.

The former Rivers governor recalled how, as student unionists, he and others, regardless of their regional and religious differences, rallied massive crowds in protests against former military ruler Ibrahim Babangida and Muhammadu Buhari.

At the event, Mr El-Rufai, who championed Mr Tinubu’s presidential campaign in 2023, called for a coalition to oust the president from office.

“Nigeria is in its biggest trouble since 1914, and that is why we are together working and conspiring to build a coalition to take Nigeria back on track because it is off track,” Mr El-Rufai said.

Calling Mr Tinubu’s administration a government of bandits, Mr El-Rufai said, “It has turned to this level because we have allowed bandits, not the ones in the bushes but the ones in the urban areas called the urban bandits, to take over leadership.”