Former Rivers State Governor and African Democratic Congress (ADC) vice-presidential candidate, Rotimi Amaechi, has disclosed how his decision to further his education while serving as a minister under former President Muhammadu Buhari saw him drastically reduce his presence at the office.
Amaechi, who served as Minister of Transportation from 2015 to 2022, said Buhari approved his request to return to university, after which he attended the ministry only once a week.
Speaking during an interview with AIT on Wednesday night, Amaechi said his arrangement with Buhari meant he stayed away from the office on most weekdays, describing the situation as a “technical” resignation.
According to him, he approached Buhari after deciding to continue his education and sought the former president’s permission to enrol in a university programme.
Amaechi said: “The next day, I went back to Mr President and asked, ‘Can I go to the university?’ He said, ‘Yes.’
“Then I applied. In the application, I said I wouldn’t be in the office Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday, that’s technically resigning from the government. The only day I came to the office was Wednesdays.”
Amaechi served as Buhari’s Transportation Minister from November 2015 until May 2022. His formal resignation from the Federal Executive Council came in May 2022, when he stepped down to pursue his presidential ambition on the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC).
He later contested the APC presidential primary held in June 2022.