Vice President and Presidential aspirant on the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Yemi Osinbajo, has stated that refusing to run in the 2023 election would be an act of injustice and betrayal on his part.
According to Osinbajo, allowing his expertise as a public servant to go to waste would be a disservice to the people and himself, and he cannot afford to retire early from politics.
The Vice President made the remarks while visiting Governor Oluwarotimi Akeredolu in Akure, the Ondo State capital, to inform him and his cabinet, as well as state lawmakers and APC chieftains in the state, of his desire to run for the party’s presidential ticket.
While soliciting the support of delegates in the state for his aspiration, Osinbajo disclosed that by virtue of the active roles President Muhammadu Buhari bestowed on him, he is more than ready to lead the country.
He said: “Opportunity of public service is the most valuable thing. It comes once in a while. It is a special privilege to be called upon to serve. Our country needs service. That is what will get our country out of doldrums.
“I have formally declared my intention to run as President. It was because nobody can be anything if God has not decided it. I believe the hand of God must be upon me.
“In this capacity, I got to find out so many things and gained lots of experience. I had opportunities to do what I could do. Knowing what I know and experience I think it will be a betrayal to our nation.
“With all that has been given to me, I now retire quietly, it will be a great disservice to our country. I want to ensure I make the best case for the position I can.
“Now the opportunity has come, knowing what I know and the experience I have had, it will be a betrayal if all that I have been given I now retire to either Lagos or Ikenne to write memoirs, it will be a great injustice.”
Speaking earlier, Akeredolu, who recalled how he and the Vice President had been friends since secondary school, emphasised that the emergence of Osinbajo as number two citizen in 2015 was divine.
On the presidential bid of Osinbajo, Akeredolu said that it is only God that can make it happen.
“We have known ourselves for long, not today. We did not meet in politics; we have been friends since secondary school. Nothing can separate us as friends.”