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Nigerian Ex-Minister, Activist Ezekwesili to Run for President

Nigerian Ex-Minister, Activist Ezekwesili to Run for President

(Bloomberg) -- Oby Ezekwesili, a former Nigerian minister and co-founder of the Bring Back Our Girls movement for the release of students abducted by Islamist militants in 2014, has joined the race to become president of Africa’s top oil producer.

Ezekwesili, 55, accepted Sunday the nomination of the Allied Congress Party of Nigeria, a lesser-known opposition party, according to her Twitter account. She will run against candidates including President Muhammadu Buhari and former Vice President Atiku Abubakar in the February election.

A former minister of solid minerals and education under President Olusegun Obasanjo, between 2003 and 2007, Ezekwesili has been a World Bank vice president for Africa. The Peace Research Institute Oslo included her in a shortlist of likely Nobel Peace Prize winners before it was awarded to Denis Mukwege and Nadia Murad last week.

To contact the reporter on this story: Yinka Ibukun in Lagos at yibukun@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Karl Maier at kmaier2@bloomberg.net, Sophie Mongalvy, Paul Richardson

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