By Charles Igbo
Former Governor of Imo State, Senator Rochas Okorocha, has an answer to those who think he is neither fit nor qualified to be the President of Nigeria, come 2023.
Okorocha says he does not need to, really, because it will be a huge sacrifice on his part. He says to even accept to be President, is like doing Nigeria and Nigerians a favour because he would lose his freedom, relaxation, travelling the world on vacations, running his foundation, and generally enjoying himself. He said he really would be more comfortable not running than running, but that he would make the sacrifice to run for the sake of a better Nigeria.
Okorocha said these during an interactive session with some Journalists in Abuja, while emphasising why he would run for Presidency in 2023.
Okorocha: “Asking me if I will run for President of Nigeria is surprising. If I don’t, what will I then run for? However, it is not about running because if you ask me, I will say that I will be more comfortable not running for any more positions in Nigeria. I will just enjoy the best of time God has given me on earth.
What makes me run is because things are not going well. You run when you think you can save the situation. I have the vision to run, not the ambition to run.
He said he had no fears in running. “I really don’t have any fears in running, and if I should have one, it should really be the quantum of sacrifice I will make.
“Sometimes when I sit down to realise the sacrifice I will make as the President just as I did in Imo, then I ask myself whether it is worth it.
That is the only thing I have mixed feelings. Otherwise, by now, I should have been sitting comfortably, living in the best house anywhere I find myself, run my foundation, travel wherever I want, take my family on holiday, enjoy the best part of this life, especially, now that we are approaching 60- year mark.”
A perennial Presidential aspirant, Okorocha has been running for President, every four years, from 2003 to 2015.
However his ambition against 2023 is likely to be tough, if it will be on the APC platform.
Not only will he not get any support from his home state where the jury is still out on his performance as Governor, it is doubtful the party will support him at the national level.
No wonder he is talking of the formation of a new platform by “good people in the APC and PDP.”
He counts himself as one of the good people – in the APC.
