By Ezeocha Nzeh
Ekiti state Governor of Ekiti, Kayode Fayemi, has formally declared his intention to contest the ticket of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) fpor the 2023 presidential election
Making hus declaration on Wednesday at the Congress Hall of Transcorp Hotel in Abuja Fayemi, who doubles as the Chairman of the Nigeria Governors Forum (NGF), described himself as the most qualified to replace President Muhammadu Buhari, even as he listed the numerous Nigerian challenges he intends to fix if he becomes the president of the country in 2023.
Governor Fayemi’s declaration has brought to 14, the number of APC aspirants for the nation’s number one seat, with 5 coming from his South West geopolitical zone
Some of the aspirants are Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, the Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi, and Senator Rochas Okorocha.
Others are Governor Yahaya Bello of Kogi State, the Minister of Labour and Productivity, Dr Chris Ngige; Minister of State for Education, Mr Chukwuemeka Nwajuba; Governor David Umuahi of Ebonyi State; Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Godswill Akpabio, former Edo State Governor, Adams Oshiomhole, Pastor Tunde Bakare and Gbenga Olawepo Hashim.
There are also reports that Governor Abubakar Badaru of Jigawa state and the senate president, senator Ahmed Lawan, from the North west and North east geopolitical zones respectively have joined the race for presidency
The Ekiti State governor, who rolled out his vast experience in public service, said in his “My Agenda for Nigeria,” that he wants to be a president to ensure peace, and secure a future for Nigeria’s children, adding that he would decentralize governance and ensure expanded policing to actualize his programme in security.
He said, “Beyond my early forays into the public sphere as a student leader, my abiding faith in the oneness of our country has been further reinforced by all my subsequent engagements in national affairs as a scholar, civil society voice and institution-builder, community and political organiser with an unapologetic pan-Nigerian and pan-African outlook, tireless advocate for human rights and democratic governance, two-term governor, federal minister, a founding Coordinator of the Progressive Governors’ Forum, and two-term Chairman of Nigeria Governors’ Forum.
“Here then is my motivating testament and confession: I am a patriot born in these climes in the course of the first decade of our country’s independence, and I stake a bold claim to say that I am a full-blooded child of Nigeria. I grew up as did many of my generation socialised into the ideals of a united and virile nation. In my lifetime, I have witnessed some heart-warming moments of nation- and state-building that would make any citizen anywhere immeasurably proud.
“But I have also seen some truly challenging days in our journey of nationhood which have tested our collective resolve and demanded the exercise of considerable political savvy by our leaders over the years. I have taken as a key lesson from the admixture of high and low points we have experienced as a country that when and where we are charitable to one another and allow our shared humanity, innate spirit of solidarity, hard work, perseverance and underlying patriotism to prevail, we always succeed in overcoming and thriving through adversity.
“Hope such as I offer with my candidature is premised on a shared vision on which we can all agree, and for which we collectively strive, of a nation that is more confidently and uncompromisingly at one with itself, serving as home for all of us regardless of ethnicity, class, gender, age, disability, region or religion.”
He pledged to ensure total return to ule of law, while promising to return Nigeria to its earlier recognized pride of Africa and to the admiration of the world.
“To give full effect to this, concrete programmes of action will be launched in priority areas that will allow for a revamping of the credibility of the Nigerian state, the promotion and fulfillment of an enhanced social contract, and the rebirth of the national identity. .
“The adoption of broad socio-economic measures that enhance our capacity to fight insecurity must be done at the same time as investments in reinforcing the deterrent capacity of the state through its armed forces, security agencies, and policing authorities. Authority and legitimacy coupled with deterrence and rapid response go hand in hand, just as we must better design and interface economic policies with broad social objectives and goals of political inclusivity towards a well-defined outcome, namely, sustained peace, stability, and progress of our country.
“Let there be no doubt: For the economy to serve broader social and political purposes that enhance human and state security, stem poverty, and promote national prosperity, my agenda for Nigeria encompasses attention to questions of productivity, diversification, domestic value addition, investments in and incentives for research, development, and innovation, and the expansion of domestic revenue mobilisation, among others.
“I fully understand that we cannot secure our prosperity without ensuring that our agricultural sector is able to deliver self-sufficiency in critical food markets, feed our efforts at agro-allied industrialisation and thus meaningfully enable the transformation of the unemployed into gainful employment, reinvigorate the rural areas, foster the coordinated expansion of commodity exchanges, and boost the flow of foreign exchange into the economy.
“No vision of national prosperity however impeccable or programme of national transformation however comprehensive can deliver the outcomes desired without attention to the planning system of government writ large. We must build on recent successes in restoring our national planning system and statistical capacity in order to open new, forward-looking approaches to development management that is research and data-driven.
“As part of this commitment, a holistic approach to decentralisation will be embraced and institutionalised so that government and its services are brought closer to the people. Our programme of decentralisation will also feed into the goals of a stronger, more united, and stable Nigeria, outcomes which are not only good for our domestic prospects but which will also benefit West Africa, the rest of the African continent, and a troubled international multilateral system.” He assured
