Gbenga Olawepo-Hashim of the All Progressives Congress, has declared his ambition to run for president in 2023, saying that his decision to contest comes with a historic burden.
The burden, according to him, was imposed right from his late teens as an undergraduate youth activist.
Olawepo-Hashim is expected to pick his nomination form at the APC secretariat, Abuja, on Thursday.
He stated that the country was enmeshed with insecurity, “and worsening energy crises due to absence of local refining of Petroleum products and inadequate electricity generation, transmission and distribution.
“A new and better Nigeria is still possible. Current political trajectory of the country is dim and dark as deep ethnic cleavages and bigotry have dominated the landscape accentuating the crises, undermining any initiative for a cohesive national redemption.
“I have stepped out to ignite that fire in my decision to seek the Presidency of the Federal Republic of Nigeria during the 2023 elections.
“Mine is not an ambition but a historic burden. It is a burden imposed on me right from my late teens when, as an undergraduate youth activist, my generation committed ourselves to the struggle for social and economic development of Nigeria, as well as to the struggle for democratic rule.”
Olawepo-Hashim added that “There is nothing Nigerians cannot achieve with the right environment and support. I am out to give the leadership to create that environment.
“Plan to build a new Nigeria as encapsulated in a 50-point agenda will be publicly presented soon by the grace of God.
“A modern Nigeria capable of securing itself from internal and external threats, provide jobs for her teeming youths currently unemployed through a sustainable economic development plan, and reduce the scourge of poverty and corruption is possible and realizable.
“By reason of accident, my father came from Northern Nigeria and my mother from the South. Half of my family are Christians while the other half are Muslims.
“I have lived and schooled in both North and South as well as in Europe and America. I know that all human beings are born equal and deserving of equal rights, opportunities and justice.
“I will do justice to all without discrimination on account of ethnicity, religion and gender. This is not another empty promise of another politician. It is who I am.”
