Nigeria’s foremost labour leader and former governor of Edo State, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole, yesterday declared to contest for the All Progressives Congress (APC) presidential ticket for the 2023 presidential election.
Declaring at Cyprian Ekwensi Centre for Arts and Culture, Abuja, the former APC national chairman said he was in the race not to complain about the mismanagement of the county by the 16- year rule of opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), but to change the narratives for the good of all Nigerians.
Addressing a large crowd, mostly youths, Oshiomhole promised to reposition the country and return it to the path of sustainable growth and development.
Concerned by the continued stay at home by university students, the Edo State-born politician promised to end the perennial strike by the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), by ensuring that the academic calendar of tertiary institutions ran smoothly.
Declaring his intention to run for the presidential election, Oshiomhole said: “I stand here this afternoon for one purpose, to formally declare that I Adams Aliyu Oshiomhole hereby declare with confidence my desire to contest for the office of the president of the Federal Republic of Nigeria on the platform of a party that we co-founded, the All Progressives Congress (APC).
“The task before us is not for us to continue to lament the imperfections in our country. The task before us is to find the courage, stand up and be counted in our determination to reposition our country to be the giant of our continent so that it can provide prosperity for all Nigerians.”
He added: “I am not here to lament all the imperfections, I have come to have a conversation as to what I believe we need to do differently to reposition Nigeria on the path of sustainable growth and development.
“I believe that sometimes we spend so much time dealing with the consequences of what is wrong, rather than tracing the root cause of those consequences. Of course, right now we talk about insecurity, we talk about unemployment, we talk about poverty, access to power supply. But what I want to discuss this afternoon is what I want to do differently to ensure that we stop lamenting and start engaging and start organising and restoring hope.”
The presidential hopeful, who spoke extempore for over an hour, promised to give attention to the nation’s economy by fixing it and restoring hope to Nigerians. He also promised a new tax regime where the rich would pay more tax.
Oshiomhole said the issues of poverty, insecurity and unemployment were interrelated, noting that one does not need to be a professor to know poverty and unemployment breed insecurity.
On education, he promised to end incessant strikes by the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU).
“I want to declare that I will do everything possible to engage not just ASUU, but also all stakeholders to ensure the academic calendar is maintained,” he said.
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