I’m not a politician — Fela Durotoye

The presidential candidate of the Alliance for New Nigeria (ANN), Fela Durotoye, on Wednesday said he was not a politician and would retain the status if elected president.

Mr Durotoye made the assertion in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos at the 2018 The Future Awards Africa in Lagos, where he was a guest.

NAN reports that the Ibadan-born Mr Durotoye, an Alumnus of the John F Kennedy School of Government, is a business consultant, leadership expert and motivational speaker.

On the reason for running for the highest office in Nigeria, Mr Durotoye said his intention was to represent a generational change in the leadership structure of Nigeria, away from politics.

“I have said it that I am not a politician and will never be a politician. I am a nation builder.

“I have always insisted that there is a need to take politics out of governance. We need nation builders so that we can have policy formulators and not politics.

“I think it is policies that change the life of the people and not politics. The economy of the nation is in the hands of the policy articulators, not the politicians.

“We should be thinking of those that are ready to build this country through good policies and look away from the politicians who are just to milk the country,” he said.

Mr Durotoye urged the electorate to look out for leaders who are trustworthy to move the nation forward and not those who want to get to office for their selfish gains.

“We need honest people in governance, those that know the onions of good governance. So, in this light we need to talk to our people at the grassroots and educate them.

“There is a call to action because everybody’s grass has its roots and it is our responsibility to make the call for the desired change.

“The change we are talking about is not about me but the whole generation of which I belong to, my presidential race is generational.

“I am frank person and honest, I want everyone to do what is right and engage in the right attitude; we should speak out on what we want to change about governance in Nigeria,’’ he said.

(NAN)