The President of the African Development Bank , AfDB, Akinwumi Adesina, has joined the contest for the presidential ticket of the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC.
This is because a coalition of 28 groups, consisting of Youth Arise Movement, Nigerians in Diaspora, One Nigeria Group, Prudent Youth Association of Nigeria, women groups, farmers, people with disabilities and other civil society groups, raised the N100m fee to purchase the presidential nomination and expression of interest forms for the former agriculture minister.
The coalition is led by the Head, One Nigeria Group, Mohammed Saleh Hassan.The development put paid to weeks of speculations that some APC chieftains were
mounting pressure on Adesina to enter the race and that it would be easier to secure presidential approval for his bid.
Investigation revealed that last January, a group, Prudent Youth Association of Nigeria (PYAN) had urged Dr Akinwumi Adesina to join the race for the 2023 presidential election. Addressing newsmen, the spokesman of the PYAN, Mr Haruna Awode said Adesina has outstanding qualities needed at the critical moment to address the myriad of problems confronting Nigeria as a nation.
The group noted that as a former Minister of Agriculture and the incumbent president of AfDB, Adesina has not disappointed or failed the nation, especially the youths.