Vice President Oluyemi Oluleke Osinbajo, popularly known as Yemi Osinbajo, has announced he will run for President of Nigeria, bringing an end to months of speculation and tepid denials.
KAMPALA | NOW THEN DIGITAL — Nigerian Vice President Oluyemi Oluleke Osinbajo, best known as Yemi Osinbajo, has finally announced that he is running for President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, ending months of speculation and tepid denials.
- Former governor of Lagos, Bola Tinubu, and transportation minister Rotimi Amaechi have also declared their intentions to compete for the ruling party’s ticket.
- Between 1999 and 2007, Osinbajo served as Lagos State Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice under Tinubu’s administration.
- He was nominated as Muhammadu Buhari’s running mate in December 2014, when Buhari was the APC’s candidate for the 2015 presidential election.
- Also read: J Martins and Banky W announce plans to run for political office during next year’s election in Nigeria.
Osinabjo declared in a video posted on his social media accounts Monday morning, shrugging off the fanfare that characterized some aspirants
Yemi Osinbajo will face a stiff challenge for the ticket of the ruling party, the APC, along with others who have declared their candidacy, including former Lagos governor Bola Tinubu and transport minister Rotimi Amaechi.
From 1999 to 2007, Osinbajo served as attorney-general and commissioner for justice in Lagos State when Tinubu was governor.
He was nominated in December 2014 as the running mate to Muhammadu Buhari, the then-candidate of the All Progressives Congress for the 2015 presidential elections.
Since then, Yemi Osinbajo has served as Vice President of Nigeria for many years to President Buhari, whom he described as a “true Nigerian patriot”.
He and Buhari, he said, have worked through some of the most difficult times in the country’s history, focusing on securing the country, building infrastructure, and boosting its economy.
Having served as Nigeria’s vice president since 2015, Osinbajo said he has had the chance to understand the “diverse experiences and yearnings” of Nigerians.
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Below is Vice President Osinbajo’s declaration speech
I am today, with utmost humility formally declaring my intention to run for the office of the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria on the platform of APC. pic.twitter.com/atggfEnF2Q
— Prof. Yemi Osinbajo (@ProfOsinbajo) April 11, 2022
“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’ve 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’ve visited our gallant troop in the Northeast and brothers and sisters in the IDP camps. I’ve felt the pain and anguish of victims of violent conflicts, terrorist attacks, flooding, fire and other disasters.
“I’ve 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’ve 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.”
