Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo (SAN) has finally declared to run for president ahead of the 2023 polls after months of speculations.
Announcing his presence on the political scene, Osinbajo said:”I formally declare my intention to run for the office of the President, Federal Republic of Nigeria, on the platform of our great party, the All Progressives Congress.”
Persecondnews reports that he made the declaration in a footage showed on ARISE and Channels TV also posted on the social media handles on Monday morning.
The Vice-President will be slugging it out with his political benefactor and former Lagos Gov. Bola Tinubu, Transportation Minister Rotimi Amaechi, former governor of Imo State Rochas Okorocha and governors of Kogi and Ebonyi states Yahaya Bello and Dave Umahi.
President Muhammadu Buhari had described him as a “true Nigerian patriot”.
Osinbajo served two terms as Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice in Tinubu’s administration from 1999 to 2007.
He was nominated as the running mate to President Muhammadu Buhari in December 2014, the then-candidate of the APC for the 2015 poll.
According to him, he and Buhari spent the last seven years working through some of the most difficult times in the history of the country, focusing on securing the country, providing infrastructure and growing its economy.
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Osinbajo said being Nigeria’s VP since 2015 has afforded the opportunities to understand the “diverse experiences and yearnings” of Nigerians.
“In these seven years, I have served the government in several capacities and I have, at the direction of Mr President, represented our country in sensitive high-level international engagements.
“I’ve been to practically all local governments in Nigeria. I’ve been in markets, in factories, in schools, in farms.
“I have been in agricultural, mining and oil-producing communities in the Delta, in Kebbi, in Enugu, in Borno, in Rivers, in Plateau and Ondo and in all other states of the federation, listening to the diverse experiences and yearnings of our people.
“I have visited our gallant troop in the Northeast and brothers and sisters in the IDP camps.
“I have felt the pain and anguish of victims of violent conflicts, terrorist attacks, flooding, fire and other disasters.
“I have been in the homes of many ordinary Nigerians in various parts of the country. I’ve sat with our techpreneurs in Lagos, Edo and kaduna, with our Nollywood and Kannywood actors, with sour musicians from Lagos, Onitsha and Kano, and I have spoken to small and large businesses.
“I stood where they stood and I sat where they sat. I know their hopes and their aspirations and their fears.
“And in I believe that in those hopes and aspirations are the seeds for the great Nigeria that we all desire,” Persecondnews quotes Osinbajo as saying.
Transportation Minister Amaechi had on Saturday declared in Port Harcourt at a rally attended by ex-Chairman of APC, Adams Oshiomhole, and other party chieftains.
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