From Abdulrazaq Mungadi, Gombe
The Vice President (VP), Yemi Osinbajo, has said he had learnt a lot serving under a transparent leader (Muhammadu Buhari) and would leverage that experience to improve governance if given the chance to serve as president in 2023.
According to him, the experiences garnered in the last seven years have exposed and given him the leadership know-how to govern a complex and diverse country like Nigeria.
The VP, who declared his intention to run for presidency on April 11 on All Progressives Congress (APC) platform, stated this during a visit to the palace of the Emir of Gombe, Abunakar Shehu Abunakar.
While informing the royal father of his 2023 ambition, Osinbajo said: “I would not disturb you with matters I will have to discuss with politicians, only to say that on April 11, 2022, I formerly declared my intention to run as president of the federal republic of Nigeria.
“And your highness, I did so after serving as VP to our President, Buhari, for the past seven years and I pray, by God grace, I will do so for another year until May 29, 2023.
“In that period of seven years, I have the honour of serving under a transparent leader, one who exposed me very diligently to all that there is to know about governing a complex and very diverse country such as ours.
“I believe all of the experiences that God gave me during the period of seven years are important now, especially as our country wishes to transit from one administration to another. So, I believe that giving the experiences and exposure that I have had, including being acting president in various occasions, I believe all this will be useful if God enables me to become the president.”
While commending the VP and the Buhari-led administration for standing against various challenges in the country, the emir tasks politicians to eschew politics of bitterness and stand for one and better Nigeria during and after the 2023 general election.