Amosun Clears Air on Presidential Ambition

By Vanessa Obioha

It is a given that the presidential elections will be a theatre of mudslinging as 2023 draws near. Already, Nigerians have witnessed part one of this never-ending struggle to occupy the coveted number one seat in the country with the number of aspirants who have declared interest. One by one, they line up the stage to convince the people. Some with good intentions, others without direction. Some, however, have one goal: to smear the name of those who may have the blessings of the people. The former two-term governor of Ogun State, Senator Ibikunle Amosun appears to be a victim of the latter.
It was on May 5 that the Senator representing Ogun West Senatorial District formally declared his intention to vie for Nigeria’s number one political office in the 2023 general elections. Many who listened to Amosun’s presentation believe that he has one of the best programmes that can turn around the fortunes of Nigeria if implemented. Compared to other presidential aspirants, they are convinced that Amosun’s declaration showed great class and intellectualism. 
With the deluge of presidential aspirants in the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), not a few wonder how the Senator can scale through the hurdles to become the party’s presidential candidate in the much-anticipated election.During his declaration at the Shehu Musa Yar’Adua Centre, Abuja, Amosun unveiled an eight-point agenda through which, if elected, is expected to transform the country’s fortunes. He said that his wealth of experience in both the public and private sectors has prepared him well to lead Nigeria after incumbent president, Muhammadu Buhari vacates office in 2023.
Reeling out his campaign manifesto, he pointed out that his administration will improve the security network of the nation, create an enabling environment for businesses to grow the economy and provision of infrastructural facilities for the teeming Nigerian populace. “Today, I am formally announcing my candidacy for the Presidential ticket of our great party, the All Progressives Congress and the Presidency of the Federal Republic of Nigeria,” he began.
“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 re-energise our faith in the future of this country even in the face of the threats to our national sovereignty by insurgents and terrorists; a duty to renew hope in our collective destiny even in the light of some doubts expressed and mobilised in some quarters about our shared fate.

“I am convinced about my capacity in leading the country to national glory. I offer myself to serve as a national revival and rejuvenation in providing a comprehensive audit of security architecture and accelerate economic growth in the country,” he said. Faced with many problems, analysts have pointed out that the two major issues that require urgent attention in Nigeria at the moment are tackling insecurity challenges and revamping the economy, which Amosun in his broadcast vowed to prioritize.
According to him, “Putting human security at the forefront and approaching human security as the directive principle of state policy would imply that the two dominant goals of my leadership would be national security and economic development,” he emphasized.
He added that they will form the pillars of his agenda as he “will create a national architecture for human flourishing that is unprecedented in our national history.”
Continuing, he said: “Based on these two pillars, we will erect a national agenda which, apart from national security and economic development, will include healthcare, education, agriculture and food security, infrastructural rural and urban development, technology, innovation and digital economy, and nation-building. “Guided by the 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 Nigeria 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 mobilise Nigeria’s immense human and natural resources to rebuild our education sector, healthcare, and infrastructure, including electricity, roads and water supply.”

Amosun received support from many who gathered at the venue to listen to him. They include a public affairs analyst Kemi Muritala, who opined that “Others have been promising to fix Nigeria, some promised hope, some promised unity, some promised a better life and so on, but stakeholders across the divide testified on Thursday, May 5, when Amosun declared before the mammoth crowd  at Shehu Musa Yar’adua Centre, Abuja that we need a trailblazer and someone whose Nigeria is safe in his hands like Amosun.”
“Going by the overwhelming felicitations and support received by Amosun across the divide as well as full representation from the Alake of Egbaland, Oba Adedotun Gbadebo, former President Olusegun Obasanjo,  former Oyo State Governor,  Rasheed Ladoja, Amb. Sarafa Tunji Ishola, Nigeria High Commissioner to the UK, who was physically present as well as federal lawmakers, youths and women groups in the country and religious leaders, the signs are clear that Nigerians’ pains are over and our reliever is definitely here” Muritala said.
Senate Leader Abdullahi Yahaya said Amosun is “exceptionally good, a person of courage and generosity.  Nigeria will be safe in his hands”.
 Corroborating this, Fayemi,  a co-presidential aspirant, said Amosun is a complete Nigerian having similarity in ideological orientation like him, hence his decision to attend his declaration.
“You can be sure that between us, whichever way, we will be in the tent and not outside the tent,” Fayemi assured supporters.
“I quite agree with Amosun in his priority of human security and accelerated economic growth and development as a way out of the doldrums we are in the country.”
Since Amosun made his declaration, not a few have taken interest in his agenda, weighing in on his capacity to deliver as campaigned if he gets to Aso Rock. Some cynics have described Amosun as a pretender who shouldn’t be taken seriously in the presidential race. Others claimed he will soon collapse his structures in order to ally with Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, another presidential aspirant on the APC platform. They also claimed he had already secretly purchased a senatorial form to return to the senate and even attended the screening for senatorial aspirants last weekend.
Amosun however disregarded the claim, saying he is in the race to secure the APC presidential ticket. He said he is not cut out for aligning with any other presidential aspirant.In a statement signed by his media aide, Bola Adeyemi, Amosun disregarded rumours that he attended the screening exercise for senatorial aspirants held last Sunday.He said he was never at the screening exercise because he didn’t purchase nomination and expression of interest forms for the senatorial election.
The statement read partly, “The attention of Senator Ibikunle Amosun has been drawn to two news stories trending in the social media. The first falsely claims that Senator Amosun has been cleared to contest for the Senate. The second claims that Senator Amosun is set to align with a named presidential aspirant for the presidential contest. The two news stories are false. They are instances of the brand of politics that responsible Nigerians abhor.
“For the avoidance of doubt, Senator Amosun procured only the forms for the presidential ticket of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and did not attend the screening exercise for Senatorial aspirants because he is not one. Also, Senator Amosun is in the race for the presidential ticket of the APC and has no plans to align with any politician in the race. The false news stories should be dismissed.”
By making his stance clear, Amosun showed that he is not in the presidential race for some five minutes of fame but ready to talk and walk the path.