Former governor of Imo State, Rochas Okorocha, yesterday declared his intention to contest for the office of President of Nigeria in the 2023 general election, during which he said his aspiration to become president is motivated by what he can offer the society and not what he can get from the office.
Addressing a mammoth crowd who thronged the International Conference Center (ICC) in Abuja, to witness the declaration of the Imo West senator, Okorocha said he is more Nigerian than all other aspirants given that he has established flourishing enterprises in every party of the country.
Citing his Rochas Foundation College, Okorocha said he has reached out to over twenty-five thousand children whom he does not know anywhere, adding that he sees the whole of Nigeria as his home without any tribal inclination.
According to him, though Nigeria is categorized as the poverty capital of the world and the most terrorised national globally, he is still confident that most of the narratives would change immediately he assumes office as the President, adding that his mission would be to build a united nation of which every Nigerian would be proud.
While lamenting the high rate of joblessness among the youths, Okorocha said he cannot preside over a Nigeria in which the youths of other nations would produce and export, while Nigerian youths would import and consume.
On this note, the two term governor of Imo State boasted that he was ready to test his political weight against any opponent in the 2023 presidential election only if his party, the All Progressives Congress (APC) provides a level playing field for all contestants.
He said he was the most qualified of all aspirants contesting for the President in 2023, going by his antecedents in social empowerment and investment he has made across all the six geo-political zones of the country.
Speaking on the contentious issue of zoning, he said though he is not a candidate of rotation or zoning, he believes in justice, stressing that justice demands that Southeast produces the next President of Nigeria.
He stressed that it is injustice for a northerner or Southwesterner to come out to contest, when it is glaring that it is the turn of the southeast, while also challenging the Igbos to realize that power is not given but taken, hence the need to reach out to others.
The former governor said as a detribalised Nigerian with investment in every part of the country, he would use his wealth of experience and connection with every part of the country to unite the nation and end insecurity.
Okorocha, who acknowledged the role of the founding fathers like Obafemi Awolowo, Nnamdi Azikiwe and Tafawa Balewa, for their sacrifices in nation building, promised to build on the foundation already laid by past and present Presidents, who have led the country at one point or the other.
As part of the programs lined up for his New Nigeria government, he said if elected President, he would make youth empowerment the bedrock of his economic policies by harnessing the God-given innate talents in them to produce an army of self-employed and financially independent youths and women.
Recall that Okorocha ran for presidency in 1999 under the platform of All Nigeria People’s Party (ANPP) but lost and also contested in 2005 under the platform of Action Alliance (AA), a party he founded.
In 2014, he contested the presidential primary election of the APC but was defeated by President Muhammadu Buhari.
He joins the growing list of aspirants from the Southeastern part of the country who have indicated interest to succeed President Muhammadu Buhari in 2023.
