By Adesina Soyooye
Embattled Minister of State for Education, Emeka Nwajiuba, has explained that he did not purchase the Presidential Expression of Interest and Nomination Forms with his money.
His party, the All Progressives Congress, APC, had shocked not a few Nigerians when it slammed a tag of N100m on the Presidential forms for interested aspirants.
Nwajiuba, a lawyer, in a race that is gradually becoming a joke and an all-comers affair, was a surprise entrant. But he has come under attack by Nigerians who wondered how he got the huge amount of money “to waste.” His critics were equally stunned that he could do that when University students have been home for 75 days, and counting, because their Lecturers are on strike over the inability of Government to pay their dues.
But the Minister, while officially joining the Presidential race on Wednesday, said the N100 million forms were purchased for him by a group he identified as “Project Nigeria Group.”
He made the explanation when he accepted the forms at a reception in his honour by the group in Abuja on Wednesday.
He said the group gathered “resources from every part of the country” to purchase the forms for him.
Accenting the forms, Nwajiuba said:
“I now solemnly accept to run for us all, and bear our Party’s Flag into the elections and become our next President.
“I do this recognizing that in the last sec years, President Muhammadu Buhari has performed extraordinary feats in ensuring that our progressive ideas have been established; physical infrastructure of every type, and inclusive policies reaching out to our poor and less privileged. As we strive to uplift Nigeria and Nigerians into a developed State.
“A lot still is outstanding and needs to be done. Many of our citizens are still outside, hungry, and unemployed. Many more are threatened by unwarranted and unnecessary internal security and economic challenges.
“Our calling today invites me to take up a work path that builds on the solid foundations that have been laid thus far. Provide different paradigms for new challenges and provide the platform for a vista that accommodates subject experts to pull together forces to meet our nation’s challenges.
“I, therefore, invite our dear party and its great men and women, to forge that trust in me, as their new symbol of unity, growth, and regeneration as we step into the future with renewed zeal and optimism.”
Nwajiuba, a former member of the House of Representatives is from Imo State. He becomes the second APC member from the State to declare his ambition to succeed Buhari in 2023. The first was Senator Rochas Okorocha, a former Governor of the State.
