Amaechi reveals why Buhari usually ignores critics when abused

Rotimi Amaechi, the Minister of Transportation, has revealed why President Muhammadu Buhari ignores critics who are said to be abusing him.

Mr Buhari, who finally became president after several attempts, is known for maintaining silence when criticized, although the reverse was the case when he was in the opposition camp.

In an interview with Punch Newspapers, the former governor said the president does not respond to critics because he is disciplined, wishing he did be like him.

“…(I admire) the discipline of Muhammadu Buhari. I wish I was that disciplined. People think it is easy to be disciplined but it’s not. If you want to know what discipline is, try to stay hungry for one month. I’m not talking about fasting,” the minister said.

“Or imagine someone craving chocolate (or any other thing) and not taking it, even if it is right in front of you. President Muhammadu Buhari (retd.) is so disciplined that he is able to resist temptation to reply his critics when they abuse him,” he added.

Backstory

Mr Amaechi, a former governor of Rivers State, became the political friend of the incumbent president during the 2015 presidential election.

The duo, alongside others, teamed up to wrestle power from the then ruling and now opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). The minister, during his days as Rivers governor, was alleged to have financed the political machinery of Mr Buhari who was in 2015 seeking to be president for the fourth time after failing severally.

Mr Buhari finally realised his political ambition after merging his then party, Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) with the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) and a faction of All Progressive Grand Alliance (APGA) which gave birth to the now ruling All Progressive Congress (APC).

The then opposition camp became stronger when Amaechi led some aggrieved state governors of the then ruling party, known as newPDP (nPDP) to join forces with it and dethroned PDP.