Lagos - Former Nigerian minister Obiageli
Ezekwesili, co-founder of a group to raise awareness about more
than 200 girls kidnapped by Boko Haram in 2014, announced on
Sunday that she will run for president next year.
Ezekwesili, 55, a former vice president for Africa at the
World Bank, said she would run as the candidate of the Allied
Congress Party of Nigeria (ACPN). Nigeria's presidential
election is scheduled to take place in February 2019.
She served in Nigeria's government between 2000 and 2007,
first as minerals minister and later education minister.
President Muhammadu Buhari, who took office in 2015, has
been selected by the ruling party as its candidate while the
main opposition People's Democratic Party selected former vice
president Atiku Abubakar at its convention on Sunday.
"I want to run for, and win, the 2019 presidential election
to serve and put the citizens first by mobilizing and taking
decisive actions on a number of big ideas that will help all of
us build an exceptional nation," Ezekwesili said in the capital
Abuja.
Ezekwesili said during her nomination that she would reform
the state-owned oil company, NNPC, enable the private sector to
create jobs and focus on human capital development. She said she
planned to tour the country.
Africa's most populous country, which is also the
continent's top oil producer, emerged from recession early last
year. But growth remains sluggish and inflation has remained
high, above the central bank's single-digit target range.
"Governance keeps worsening. So we the citizens have decided
to get into the political arena to make things right," she said.
Ezekwesili, one of the founders of civil society
organisation Transparency International, was considered for the
2018 Nobel Peace Prize in recognition of her anti-corruption
work.
She is known more recently for her work as co-founder of
Bring Back Our Girls, a campaign which seeks to raise awareness
about some 270 girls who were kidnapped from their school in the
northeast Nigerian town of Chibok in April 2014 by Islamist
group Boko Haram.
The campaign brought international attention to the girls'
plight.
Many of the Chibok girls managed to escape in the hours
following their abduction or were released in the last few
years, including 82 who were freed in an exchange deal that
included several imprisoned Islamist insurgents. About 100 of
the girls are still missing and their condition is unknown.