By Muhammed Abubakar, Reporting
Former Governor of Ogun State, Senator Ibikunle Amosun and Pastor Tunde Bakare, on Thursday, formally declared their interest in the presidential ticket of the All Progressives Congress (APC).
Amosun, who was at Governor John Kayode Fayemi’s declaration in Abuja on Wednesday, vowed to pursue an eight-point agenda anchored on national security and economic development.
He made his declaration before a crowd of supporters, including Governor Kayode Fayemi of Ekiti State, current and former members of the National Assembly and other party stakeholders at the Yar’Adua Centre Abuja.
He said if he became the president, he would build on the point from where the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari left office after eight years.
He noted that he would later on elaborate on the twin pillars of his agenda, adding that it would capture healthcare, education, agriculture and food security; infrastructure, rural and urban development; technology, innovation and digital economy, and nation building.
He said: “Guided by unprecedented investment in human security, the integration of the eight areas of this carefully planned agenda for national reawakening will, within four years, unleash unparalleled human resources that will make Nigerians proud of their motherland.
“It bears repeating that Nigeria has the required manpower, both at home and abroad to accomplish this agenda.
“Under my leadership, we will mobilize Nigeria’s immense human and natural resources to rebuild our education sector, healthcare, infrastructures- including electricity, roads, and water supply and expand our technological capacity to meet the challenges of the 21st century.
“We will strengthen the foundations of our federal system in ways that will not only preserve and fortify the federation, but also provide the pathways for fulfilling all of the country’s egalitarian potentials now
and in the future without alienating or hurting any of its constituent parts.
“We will stretch out a hand of fellowship to the international community starting from ECOWAS and the African Union, and strengthen our existing international alliances while creating new strategic partnerships that will provide the scientific and technological support needed to rebuild and greatly expand our infrastructures and transform our economy.
“I do acknowledge that our country faces daunting odds. These odds, have led some people into grave doubts about the country; others have even questioned our capacity for national recovery.
“In the last two decades and more, Nigerians have made great sacrifices not only to preserve democratic rule, but also to preserve the country, particularly in the face of the cruel challenges by insurgents and terrorists.
“But Nigeria has faced graver odds in the past and triumphed. I have an unyielding faith in the possibilities of Nigeria. Faced with threats of disintegration under military rule, Nigeria triumphed and democratic rule was not only reinstalled but has survived, and is thriving.
“Burning in my heart are the aspirations and hopes of the people of this great country and a vision to lead the nation towards its manifest destiny as the greatest black nation on earth.
“Nigeria’s potential greatness is not in her abundant her natural resources; greatness is her human resources. Nigerians are the measure of the greatness of this country.
“The 2023 elections provide us with an opportunity to renew our faith in ourselves as a people capable of transforming our land into what it as a truly should be: a land of plenty. I have no doubt that we will come together again to rebuild the country and confront our common challenges as a people.
“This is the moment to renew and reenergize our common hope and aspirations as a people. I offer myself as the one to harness the extraordinary capacities of this generation of young Nigerians for national greatness; to be a vehicle for the project of national renewal and revitalization that all Nigerians crave for; to be the administrative instrument that turn our national story from one about potentials to one about actualities; to be the president that takes all the various setbacks and victories, the despairs and jubilations that compose the calendar of our national history and turn them all into elements of our collective national glory.
“A rendezvous with history is in the horizon; the sacred task of marshalling all our energies to achieve our collective national destiny is at hand. Let us embrace this with eagerness and courage.
“Assured of the infinite grace of God, convinced about the actualization of the potential greatness of our country, and confident about my vision and capacity to lead this country, I ask you my compatriots particularly members of our great party, the All Progressives Congress, to support my bid for the presidential ticket of the APC, and ultimately the next president of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.”
Speaking on what qualified him to seek the office, the former Ogun State chief executive stated: “My wide-ranging experiences in both private and public life, in political parties and political alliances, in two of the three branches of government, that is, in the legislative and executive branches, and at every level of government in Nigeria, have imbued me with the requisite insights, the political vision, a deep understanding of the nature and strengths of Nigeria’s diversity, economic management capacity, and an extensive network of relationships adequate to provide a leadership that will galvanize our dear country to achieve her manifest destiny as the leading nation not only in Africa but in the black world.
“Today, am formally announcing my candidacy for the presidential ticket of our great party, the All Progressives Congress (APC) and the presidency of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
“I do so conscious of the immensity of the tasks that lie ahead in our country and the magnitude of the sacrifices that anybody who wishes to lead our country into the next phase must make.
“This is to honour a historic call and duty to lead the next phase of our collective journey to national glory.
“It is a duty to reenergize our faith in the future of this sovereignty country even in the face of the threats to our national by insurgents and terrorists; a duty to collective destiny even in the light of renew hope in our mobilized in some a some doubts expressed and quarters about our shared fate.
“The tests we face today as a people are not weightier, more perilous, or more enormous than those we have faced in the past.
“In the past, we triumphed over threats to our national togetherness, menaces collective rights to choose our own government and to our representatives, and the manifold perils of the process of nation-building am therefore confident in the future of this country and the great possibilities that lie ahead for us as a free people.
“As Dr. Nnamdi Azikive said in his inaugural address to the nation on 16 November 1960, I am convinced about our capacity to “march together to a greater tomorrow for Nigeria in unity and faith.”
“In the last seven years, I have stood alongside others with President Buhari as he led the country in facing some of the gravest challenges to our country.”
In his remark, Governor Fayemi, himself a presidential aspirant under the APC, said contesting for the ticket of the party should not be about quarrelling, but rather, all those who have thrown their hats into the ring should be commended “for even wanting to offer themselves for service.”
In his goodwill message, Senator Saidu Dansadau described Amosun as the most qualified out of all the aspirants that have bought forms.
He said Fayemi was the next best qualified because of all the governors invited, he was the only one present at Amosun’s declaration, suggesting that if he (Fayemi) does not get the ticket, he would be prepared to work with others.
Senator Lawan Shuaibu advised the APC to choose a good man as the candidate, noting that “Amosun is a good man, generous and and achiever.”
In her remark, Senator Iyabo Alesinlowo, also described the former Ogun governor as an achiever who will be remembered for what he did for Ogun State for a long time to come.
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