I will run for President in 2023 under one condition —Utomi

Renowned political commentator and economist, Pat Utomi has revealed his interest in the Presidency dependent on some factors.

Utomi made the disclosure on Saturday during an interview with Arise TV, stating that his ambition was subject to a consensual agreement by the Igbo people.

The issue of an Igbo Presidency has been the subject of various political discourses with some stakeholders advocating for the region to produce the next President, in the interest of equity.

Nonetheless, the two major political parties — the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) and the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) — are yet to decide on zoning the Presidency but high-profile politicians from the APC such as Bola Ahmed Tinubu and Dave Umahi have signified their interests in gunning for the coveted post.

READ ALSO: I doubt if there’ll be a Nigeria in 2027 —Prof Utomi

In his statement during the interview, Utomi said, “Igbo Candidacy? If people come to me and say, ‘Look! We have looked at your background. We have looked at your whole life of service and we think you are the candidate that the Igbo nation needs to offer to Nigeria, I would have no problem with that. But, am I driven by the very fact of position?

“Look, there are people who have been Presidents in Nigeria, who if you give me their place in history; I would rather never have held any office in Nigeria than be what history would remember them as. So, the fact of office and power has very little attraction to me as a person but service to transform the lives of people matter to me.

“It is about the people. Honestly, it is not about people who would hire crowds to come and say, ‘These people have come to ask me to run.’ No. I have always seen service about people looking around them. Almost everything I have done in my life is to literally see it as a duty.”

Mayowa Oladeji

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