A Nigerian trained in the US in nursing and clinical science, Dr Abdulfattah Durojaiye, has declared his intention to contest for the 2023 presidential election on the platform of the People’s Redemption Party (PRP).
The 53-year-old Ogun State-born presidential aspirant made his intention known at the PRP’s national convention held in Abuja at the weekend.
He said Buhari has no reason to decline the signing of the Electoral Amendment bill to ensure that people like him could contest under a healthy electoral process.
Durojaiye, who spoke to the media on the sidelines of the accession, said his decision to contest was informed by the fact that successive governments have failed the country and the country has become more divided in recent times than what was experienced during the Civil War era.
“We can see the situation of our country and we can see today that Nigeria is more divided than even the time of the Civil War. Our country is going down the drain. This time calls for men of conscience to salvage Nigeria,” he stated.
“That is why I am stepping forward to secure Nigeria. To rescue our people. To tell our people that this is the time to come together as one people and rescue the country from these cabals that have gotten us into this hole.
“Nigeria is a prosperous country. We can have that prosperity back. We can be the greatest country on the face of the world and that is what my leadership is going to provide. We are going to come clarity of purpose and vision. PRP is the only party that can rescue Nigeria.”
Durojaiye ruled out the opposition Peoples Democratic Party as an alternative to rescue Nigeria, declaring himself the candidate to beat for the most anticipated election.
“In 2023, we are going to have two candidates, that is my candidate and the candidate of those people who have injured Nigeria, those who have put us in this hole, those who have bankrupted this country and destroyed our commonwealth,” he said.
He said his programme for Nigeria covers education, health, security and other social-economic reforms.
“We are going to roll our programme. We are going to ensure that every child can assess quality education, quality health care. Health service is not a privilege, it is a right to every Nigerian irrespective of where you come from. That is why we are going to ensure that we have quality health services for Nigeria.
“As the president, I will live in Nigeria, treated in Nigeria, die in Nigeria and I will be buried in Nigeria. That’s what we are going to offer our people.
“Police is communal, police is local. Likewise, crime is local. We are going to have a reform in the police, military, judicial and other critical institutions in the country,” he said.
He said Nigerians should be able to see the handwriting on the wall that both APC and PDP are crumbling already.
“APC and PDP are already falling. For APC, their days are numbered. PDP, APC, they have not achieved anything since 1999. PRP will defeat APC and PDP. I am not thinking about APC and PDP now, I am thinking of post-2023, what we are going to give to the people.
“Nigeria will be the greatest country in the whole world under my government, he declared, adding that he would mobilise Nigerian youths and women who have lost trust in the system to come out in their numbers to vote the APC out of power.
“2023, if people are not interested in the system, it’s because the system has failed them repeatedly. But the people should look beyond the wall, see the intention of the person talking to you. We are going to energise the youth because if we cannot bring them up, we cannot have a country. We are going to bring our youths and market women together.
“On the electoral bill, I believe the president will do the right thing. I believe he will want to do the best for the country. In his capacity, signing this electoral bill is the best he can do. I don’t believe that he will deliberately derail the process that will bring someone like me into the leadership of the country,” he said.
