Nigerian Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo announced on Monday that he is entering the race for the February 2023 presidential election in Africa’s most populous country and said he is running in his party’s primary.
Elected vice president in 2015, Osinbajo made the announcement after months of speculation about his ambition to succeed President Muhammadu Buhari, who after two terms decided not to seek re-election. The 65-year-old lawyer and former university professor said his years of service under President Buhari made him the best man for the job.
“It is for this reason that I formally declare today, with utmost humility, my intention to run for the office of president…through our great party, the All Progressives Congress (APC),” he said in a recorded statement.
The ruling APC will nominate its candidate in a primary to be held by June. APC leader and former Lagos governor Bola Tinubu has already announced his candidacy along with Transport Minister Rotimi Amaechi and Kogi State governor Yahaya Bello.
If he wins, Mr. Osinbajo, a native of Lagos, has promised to continue Mr. Buhari’s policies and programs, including major infrastructure projects such as roads and railroads.
Security will be a major issue in the election as the country is plagued by widespread insecurity. The nigerian military is deployed on multiple fronts, including in the northeast, the scene of a jihadist insurgency for more than 12 years, and in the northwest, where criminal gangs loot, kidnap and kill people.
The ruling party’s candidate will face the candidate who emerges from the main opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). Former vice president Atiku Abubakar, 75, who has run for president five times in the past, announced his candidacy under the PDP banner last month.
