₦airaland Forum

The Same Gang That Cost Jonathan His Ouster: Rotimi Amaechi, Atiku Abubakar, Nasir El-Rufai

By Prince Festus Oyom

In 2015, Nigeria underwent a historic power shift. It was not merely a change of government; it was a recalibration of political loyalties, alliances, and the manipulation of public discontent. At the center of that political coup stood three ambitious men: Rotimi Amaechi, Atiku Abubakar, and Nasir El-Rufai. Disillusioned with the People's Democratic Party (PDP) and eager to wield power from a new platform, they defected and coalesced under the emerging All Progressives Congress (APC).

Their betrayal of former President Goodluck Jonathan was not just strategic—it was personal, ideological, and transactional. They presented themselves as reformists, promising change, good governance, and accountability. A decade later, Nigerians are asking: Where did all that promised change go?

Rotimi Amaechi: The Man Who Funded His Own Obsolescence

Amaechi’s political story is a textbook on how not to play the long game. As Governor of Rivers State and Chairman of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum, Amaechi became the most vocal critic of Jonathan’s administration from within the PDP. He accused the government of fiscal recklessness and regional neglect, particularly towards the Niger Delta.

But beneath the surface, Amaechi’s feud with Jonathan was deeply rooted in political egotism and personal ambition. After defecting to the APC, he practically bankrolled Buhari’s campaign in 2015 and became the “engine room” of the Southern campaign machinery. In return, he was rewarded with the Ministry of Transportation—a portfolio he used more for political optics than real development.

Yet, today in 2025, Amaechi is politically redundant. Stripped of influence within the APC, edged out of Buhari’s inner circle long before the 2023 elections, and bypassed by Tinubu’s regime, his political capital has all but evaporated. The same APC he helped build discarded him when he dared to contest for presidency. His loss was not just electoral; it was a public humiliation.

His legacy? The Port Harcourt-Maiduguri rail that never saw daylight, a bloated transport ministry, and a party that used him and dumped him.

Atiku Abubakar: The Political Nomad of Nigerian Democracy

Atiku’s name is synonymous with defection, ambition, and political resurrection. As Vice President under Obasanjo, he clashed with his boss and became one of Nigeria’s most recognizable opposition figures. His defection from PDP to APC in 2014 was the final blow that sealed Jonathan’s fate. Atiku brought northern political weight, Fulani elite sympathy, and financial muscle to the APC.

But like Amaechi, Atiku was used and sidelined. Buhari and the CPC bloc never trusted him, and his 2019 and 2023 presidential bids ended in failure—rejected by a younger electorate tired of recycled leaders and a Northern elite that moved on to newer power brokers.

In the current Nigerian context—plagued by youth unemployment, inflation, currency instability, and insecurity—Atiku’s brand of politics offers nothing but nostalgia for a broken past. His alliance with Peter Obi in 2019 was opportunistic. His recent flirtation with a coalition in 2025 is another act in his long-running play of relevance chasing.

He remains a man of means but not of momentum. For all his claims of economic competence, Atiku represents a class of elites who have profited from every regime without ever delivering results.

Nasir El-Rufai: The Technocrat Who Played with Fire

Perhaps the most ideologically dangerous of the trio is Nasir El-Rufai. A product of the Obasanjo reform era, El-Rufai was sold to Nigerians as the brilliant, no-nonsense technocrat. His role in 2015 was both strategic and symbolic: he was the APC’s brain trust, the architect of its early policy vision, and a fierce Jonathan critic.

But in power, particularly as Governor of Kaduna State, El-Rufai governed with a combative, divisive style. His tenure was marked by worsening ethno-religious conflict, suppression of dissent, and a neoliberal policy framework that deepened poverty without cushioning the vulnerable.

Post-governorship, El-Rufai attempted to rebrand himself as a “statesman” and constitutional reformer, but his relevance has waned. His controversial remarks about religious dominance, his falling out with the Tinubu-led APC, and recent allegations of corruption have made him radioactive even among his former loyalists.

In a country now desperate for unity and healing, El-Rufai’s legacy is that of a technocrat who weaponized ethnicity and religion when it suited his ambition.

A Shared Legacy of Political Sabotage

Together, these three men helped midwife a regime that Nigerians now regard as one of the most disastrous in recent memory. The Buhari years—of which they were architects—ushered in:

Unprecedented inflation and currency collapse (the naira now scraping ₦2000/$ in black markets),

Mass youth unemployment and exodus through the “japa” wave,

Entrenched insecurity in the form of banditry, terrorism, and kidnapping,

Crippling debt without commensurate infrastructure.

Yet, none of these men have taken responsibility. Instead, they now pose as critics of the very system they enabled. Their recent silence—or in some cases, sudden criticism of Tinubu’s government—is not rooted in patriotism but in bitterness at being excluded.

They are no different from arsonists returning to critique the architecture of the house they burnt.

Conclusion: Time to Break the Cycle

The tragedy of Nigeria is not just bad leadership, but the recycling of failed elites. We often mistake experience for competence, and betrayal for strategy. The same gang that cost Jonathan his presidency did not do so for Nigeria’s benefit—they did it for their own ambitions. And when the dust settled, they left the country worse than they met it.

As 2027 approaches, Nigerians must ask: Are we going to empower the same architects of regression, or finally break free from the vicious cycle of elite sabotage?

It is time to retire the likes of Amaechi, Atiku, and El-Rufai—not just from office, but from influence. The future of Nigeria cannot be built by men who sold the past, squandered the present, and still demand a stake in the future they helped destroy.

You go cry tire. Tinubu lead the onslaught against Goatluck not Atikulation, Hell Rufai nor Rotimi the kindergarten

WorldRichest:
You go cry tire. Tinubu lead the onslaught against Goatluck not Atikulation, Hell Rufai nor Rotimi the kindergarten

Was Tinubu not an opposition leader obligated to work for the removal of GEJ on behalf of his APC opposition Party?

Kier Stammer, UK Prime Minister today and opposition leader previously, should have worked for Rishi Sunak to remain Prime Minister Ba? Make it make universal sense abeg.

Tinubu was part and parcel of that gang. In fact, he emptied the Lagos treasury in the gang up against Goodluck Jonathan.

Bobloco:
Tinubu was part and parcel of that gang. In fact, he emptied the Lagos treasury in the gang up against Goodluck Jonathan.

You're always emotional and sentimental in ways women should be and not men. Today, Atiku, El Rufai, Amaechi etal are doing and saying worse against Tinubu than anyone can accuse Jagaban of doing against Jonathan.

Do you see Tinubu's supporters crying and gnashing teeth as you lot did and are still doing about a "gang up" against GEJ?

No. We are backing Jagaban to dismiss and retrench any gang up because we know Tinubu is not GEJ and never plays victim against anyone. He fight back and wins.

We know he will crush Atiku, Obi, El Rufai and co come 2007.I suspect you do too and that is why you are always crying on Nairaland.

WizardOfNG:
You're always emotional and sentimental in ways women should be and not men. Today, Atiku, El Rufai, Amaechi etal are doing and saying worse against Tinubu that anyone can accuse Jagaban of doing against Jonathan.

Do you see Tinubu's supporters crying and gnashing teeth as you lot did and are still doing about a "gang up" against GEJ?

No. We are backing Jagaban to dismiss and retrench any gang up because we know Tinubu is not GEJ and never plays victim against anyone. He fight back and wins.

We know he will crush Atiku, Obi, El Rufai and co come 2007.I suspect you do too and that is why you are always crying on Nairaland.

Typical Tinubu supporter behavior: Accuse others of being "emotional" while typing three long paragraphs soaked in projection, tribal bitterness, and shaky confidence masked as bravado.

Let’s not pretend Tinubu’s politics isn’t built on the worst kind of cards, tribal bigotry, Emi-lokan tribál and ethnic bîtter politics, and buccaneering power-grabbing, all wrapped in that infamous “grab it, snatch it, and run with it” Gestapo-style desperation. The kind you'd expect from a drug lord, not a statesman. His entire campaign wasn’t about competence, vision, or policy. It was rooted in Emilokan arrogance: the delusion that it’s simply “his turn.” And now, when people rightfully call out the broken state of the country since he assumed office, you cry “gang-up”?.

And let’s stop pretending Tinubu supporters don’t throw daily tantrums anytime Atiku, Obi, or even El-Rufai make a comment on national issues especially when it’s Peter Obi. You lot are constantly online, attacking entire tribes, labeling anyone with a different opinion as an “enemy,” and flooding threads with propaganda yet never showing a shred of self-awareness.

Say what you want about GEJ, but he never built his politics on tribal or ethnic bigotry, nor did he use it to excuse failure. So if your Jagaban is truly that powerful, why are you all still this triggered by mere Nairaland comments?

Deep down, you know what we all see: Tinubu is a failed president, hiding behind lies, falsehoods, and propaganda to mask a woeful tenure. That’s why you’re always here, foaming at the mouth instead of debating with facts. No amount of chest-thumping can cover up a weak, bitter, ethnically divisive brand of politics that’s dragging this country backward.

sleezy106:
The Same Gang That Cost Jonathan His Ouster: Rotimi Amaechi, Atiku Abubakar, Nasir El-Rufai

By Prince Festus Oyom

In 2015, Nigeria underwent a historic power shift. It was not merely a change of government; it was a recalibration of political loyalties, alliances, and the manipulation of public discontent. At the center of that political coup stood three ambitious men: Rotimi Amaechi, Atiku Abubakar, and Nasir El-Rufai. Disillusioned with the People's Democratic Party (PDP) and eager to wield power from a new platform, they defected and coalesced under the emerging All Progressives Congress (APC).

Their betrayal of former President Goodluck Jonathan was not just strategic—it was personal, ideological, and transactional. They presented themselves as reformists, promising change, good governance, and accountability. A decade later, Nigerians are asking: Where did all that promised change go?

Rotimi Amaechi: The Man Who Funded His Own Obsolescence

Amaechi’s political story is a textbook on how not to play the long game. As Governor of Rivers State and Chairman of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum, Amaechi became the most vocal critic of Jonathan’s administration from within the PDP. He accused the government of fiscal recklessness and regional neglect, particularly towards the Niger Delta.

But beneath the surface, Amaechi’s feud with Jonathan was deeply rooted in political egotism and personal ambition. After defecting to the APC, he practically bankrolled Buhari’s campaign in 2015 and became the “engine room” of the Southern campaign machinery. In return, he was rewarded with the Ministry of Transportation—a portfolio he used more for political optics than real development.

Yet, today in 2025, Amaechi is politically redundant. Stripped of influence within the APC, edged out of Buhari’s inner circle long before the 2023 elections, and bypassed by Tinubu’s regime, his political capital has all but evaporated. The same APC he helped build discarded him when he dared to contest for presidency. His loss was not just electoral; it was a public humiliation.

His legacy? The Port Harcourt-Maiduguri rail that never saw daylight, a bloated transport ministry, and a party that used him and dumped him.

Atiku Abubakar: The Political Nomad of Nigerian Democracy

Atiku’s name is synonymous with defection, ambition, and political resurrection. As Vice President under Obasanjo, he clashed with his boss and became one of Nigeria’s most recognizable opposition figures. His defection from PDP to APC in 2014 was the final blow that sealed Jonathan’s fate. Atiku brought northern political weight, Fulani elite sympathy, and financial muscle to the APC.

But like Amaechi, Atiku was used and sidelined. Buhari and the CPC bloc never trusted him, and his 2019 and 2023 presidential bids ended in failure—rejected by a younger electorate tired of recycled leaders and a Northern elite that moved on to newer power brokers.

In the current Nigerian context—plagued by youth unemployment, inflation, currency instability, and insecurity—Atiku’s brand of politics offers nothing but nostalgia for a broken past. His alliance with Peter Obi in 2019 was opportunistic. His recent flirtation with a coalition in 2025 is another act in his long-running play of relevance chasing.

He remains a man of means but not of momentum. For all his claims of economic competence, Atiku represents a class of elites who have profited from every regime without ever delivering results.

Nasir El-Rufai: The Technocrat Who Played with Fire

Perhaps the most ideologically dangerous of the trio is Nasir El-Rufai. A product of the Obasanjo reform era, El-Rufai was sold to Nigerians as the brilliant, no-nonsense technocrat. His role in 2015 was both strategic and symbolic: he was the APC’s brain trust, the architect of its early policy vision, and a fierce Jonathan critic.

But in power, particularly as Governor of Kaduna State, El-Rufai governed with a combative, divisive style. His tenure was marked by worsening ethno-religious conflict, suppression of dissent, and a neoliberal policy framework that deepened poverty without cushioning the vulnerable.

Post-governorship, El-Rufai attempted to rebrand himself as a “statesman” and constitutional reformer, but his relevance has waned. His controversial remarks about religious dominance, his falling out with the Tinubu-led APC, and recent allegations of corruption have made him radioactive even among his former loyalists.

In a country now desperate for unity and healing, El-Rufai’s legacy is that of a technocrat who weaponized ethnicity and religion when it suited his ambition.

A Shared Legacy of Political Sabotage

Together, these three men helped midwife a regime that Nigerians now regard as one of the most disastrous in recent memory. The Buhari years—of which they were architects—ushered in:

Unprecedented inflation and currency collapse (the naira now scraping ₦2000/$ in black markets),

Mass youth unemployment and exodus through the “japa” wave,

Entrenched insecurity in the form of banditry, terrorism, and kidnapping,

Crippling debt without commensurate infrastructure.

Yet, none of these men have taken responsibility. Instead, they now pose as critics of the very system they enabled. Their recent silence—or in some cases, sudden criticism of Tinubu’s government—is not rooted in patriotism but in bitterness at being excluded.

They are no different from arsonists returning to critique the architecture of the house they burnt.

Conclusion: Time to Break the Cycle

The tragedy of Nigeria is not just bad leadership, but the recycling of failed elites. We often mistake experience for competence, and betrayal for strategy. The same gang that cost Jonathan his presidency did not do so for Nigeria’s benefit—they did it for their own ambitions. And when the dust settled, they left the country worse than they met it.

As 2027 approaches, Nigerians must ask: Are we going to empower the same architects of regression, or finally break free from the vicious cycle of elite sabotage?

It is time to retire the likes of Amaechi, Atiku, and El-Rufai—not just from office, but from influence. The future of Nigeria cannot be built by men who sold the past, squandered the present, and still demand a stake in the future they helped destroy.

true talk.

Bobloco:
Typical Tinubu supporter behavior: Accuse others of being "emotional" while typing three long paragraphs soaked in projection, tribal bitterness, and shaky confidence masked as bravado.

Let’s not pretend Tinubu’s politics isn’t built on the worst kind of cards, tribal bigotry, Emi-lokan tribál and ethnic bîtter politics, and buccaneering power-grabbing, all wrapped in that infamous “grab it, snatch it, and run with it” Gestapo-style desperation. The kind you'd expect from a drug lord, not a statesman. His entire campaign wasn’t about competence, vision, or policy. It was rooted in Emilokan arrogance: the delusion that it’s simply “his turn.” And now, when people rightfully call out the broken state of the country since he assumed office, you cry “gang-up”?.

And let’s stop pretending Tinubu supporters don’t throw daily tantrums anytime Atiku, Obi, or even El-Rufai make a comment on national issues especially when it’s Peter Obi. You lot are constantly online, attacking entire tribes, labeling anyone with a different opinion as an “enemy,” and flooding threads with propaganda yet never showing a shred of self-awareness.

Say what you want about GEJ, but he never built his politics on tribal or ethnic bigotry, nor did he use it to excuse failure. So if your Jagaban is truly that powerful, why are you all still this triggered by mere Nairaland comments?

Deep down, you know what we all see: Tinubu is a failed president, hiding behind lies, falsehoods, and propaganda to mask a woeful tenure. That’s why you’re always here, foaming at the mouth instead of debating with facts. No amount of chest-thumping can cover up a weak, bitter, ethnically divisive brand of politics that’s dragging this country backward.

please find something reasonable to do with yourself Mr Carlos Alberto.

Charity they say begins @ home, shame will never allow u mention who the Governor of your state is, u want the world to believe that it was bola Tinubu that ruined your life in Nigeria?

Bobloco:
Typical Tinubu supporter behavior: Accuse others of being "emotional" while typing three long paragraphs soaked in projection, tribal bitterness, and shaky confidence masked as bravado.

Let’s not pretend Tinubu’s politics isn’t built on the worst kind of cards, tribal bigotry, Emi-lokan tribál and ethnic bîtter politics, and buccaneering power-grabbing, all wrapped in that infamous “grab it, snatch it, and run with it” Gestapo-style desperation. The kind you'd expect from a drug lord, not a statesman. His entire campaign wasn’t about competence, vision, or policy. It was rooted in Emilokan arrogance: the delusion that it’s simply “his turn.” And now, when people rightfully call out the broken state of the country since he assumed office, you cry “gang-up”?.

And let’s stop pretending Tinubu supporters don’t throw daily tantrums anytime Atiku, Obi, or even El-Rufai make a comment on national issues especially when it’s Peter Obi. You lot are constantly online, attacking entire tribes, labeling anyone with a different opinion as an “enemy,” and flooding threads with propaganda yet never showing a shred of self-awareness.

Say what you want about GEJ, but he never built his politics on tribal or ethnic bigotry, nor did he use it to excuse failure. So if your Jagaban is truly that powerful, why are you all still this triggered by mere Nairaland comments?

Deep down, you know what we all see: Tinubu is a failed president, hiding behind lies, falsehoods, and propaganda to mask a woeful tenure. That’s why you’re always here, foaming at the mouth instead of debating with facts. No amount of chest-thumping can cover up a weak, bitter, ethnically divisive brand of politics that’s dragging this country backward.

Olodo how long is your response thrash? Always writing like a little girl.

Look, back whoever you wish and cry over gang up from like 200 years ago for 50 years or till you leave the Earth.
We have backed our side and not bothered about any gang up .Na to ask you and your crew of weeping women to bring it on. Winner takes all.

WizardOfNG:
Olodo how long is your response thrash? Look, back whoever you wish and cry over gang up from like 200 years ago. We have backed our side and not bothered about any gang up .

Na to ask you to bring it on remain.

When substance is lacking, insults become the refuge of Agbadoos.

If your only response to reasoned critique is name-calling and chest-thumping, then you've already lost the argument.

I don’t expect everyone to agree, but at the very least, try to engage with ideas not just emotion. Support whoever you like, but don’t confuse blind loyalty with strength. It’s not “bringing it on” if all you bring is noise.

Bobloco:
When substance is lacking, insults become the refuge of Agbadoos.

If your only response to reasoned critique is name-calling and chest-thumping, then you've already lost the argument.

I don’t expect everyone to agree, but at the very least, try to engage with ideas not just emotion. Support whoever you like, but don’t confuse blind loyalty with strength. It’s not “bringing it on” if all you bring is noise.

You Obidients are nauseating people 'high' on your own obtuse worship of an ideologically naked, failed and intellectually inferior emeperor.

I am typing with "tribal bitterness", a direct and insulting assault against my person and you still have the hypocritical effrontery to type the bolded above?

Only a higher power can deliver you lot. Again, I will ask you to bring it on and spare us your verbose character assassination that will not deliver votes for Obi or Atiku.

WizardOfNG:
You Obidients are nauseating people 'high' on your own obtuse worship of an ideologically naked, failed and intellectually inferior emeperor.

I am typing with "tribal bitterness", a direct and insulting assault against my person and you still have the hypocritical effrontery to type the bolded above?

Only a higher power can deliver you lot. Again, I will ask you to bring it on and spare us your verbose character assassination that will not deliver votes for Obi or Atiku.

When your argument begins with insults and ends with divine intervention, it's clear that logic took no part in the journey.

You accuse others of “obtuse worship,” yet defend a man whose legacy is built on narcotics trafficking, certificate forgery, identity theft, propaganda, and plunder. If that’s your standard for intellectual superiority, then the bar isn’t just low, it’s underground.

As for being "delivered," perhaps it's not us who need saving, but those who have mistaken political loyalty for personal identity. May that higher power you invoked show you the difference

WizardOfNG:
You Obidients are nauseating people 'high' on your own obtuse worship of an ideologically naked, failed and intellectually inferior emeperor.

I am typing with "tribal bitterness", a direct and insulting assault against my person and you still have the hypocritical effrontery to type the bolded above?

Only a higher power can deliver you lot. Again, I will ask you to bring it on and spare us your verbose character assassination that will not deliver votes for Obi or Atiku.

Bro, you know I have been asking for a while now. Are we using different English curriculum across the Nigeria regions?

Those people meaning to words are just different from others. Wondering how they would be accusing others on something they already practiced on the same thread

An article fuelled by fear and bias. Change is constant. It is undeniable that these three men identified by the author are strategists and when united can tilt the scales. No amount of sycophancy can deny this. Amaechi's legacy is also not what the disgruntled author ascribed to him. The only right way to retain your position as an elected official, is to perform to the satisfaction of the majority of the people. It is as simple as that. It behoves on Tinubu to fulfill his campaign promises before the next election.

Apt. Read the write-up and I must say Bravo. It captures the trio and their real faces under the mask.

helinues:
Bro, you know I have been asking for a while now. Are we using different English curriculum across the Nigeria regions?

Those people meaning to words are just different from others. Wondering how they would be accusing others on something they already practiced on the same thread

Don't mind them. Take a national vote today about the most tribalistic, clannish, prejudiced, unwelcoming and most hateful Nigerian ethnic group and they will will hands down by a landslide

They don't think before they talk. Look at what their grandfathers were saying as far back as the 1940s to note the vile ethnic supremacists, who think it is their God-given right to dominate others, they are.

They are same today and nothing has changed. Yet they have the nerve to tag others tribalistic.

They see themselves as superior messiahs and savioirs of others. Yet nothing at all , supported by reality on ground, proves this.

Like Obi they tout Nigeria's messiah whereas history exposes him as one of the most failed Governors Nigeria has produced since 1999. hey are something else.

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=608894125791390&set=a.405300569484081