Okonjo-Iweala says she’s not running for president

Former finance minister, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, says she is not interested in contesting running for president in 2019.

Mrs. Okonjo-Iweala took to Facebook, Thursday, to post a disclaimer against a campaign on the social media site urging her to run for president in 2019, with the president of the African Development Bank, Akinwumi Adesina, as her running mate.

The campaign has a Facebook page “Okonjo-Iweala/Adesina 2019 Rescue” dedicated to it, with more than 25,000 people liking the page so far.

“I have nothing to do with this,” Mrs. Okonjo-Iweala said of the campaign, in her Facebook post. “I urge those behind it to stop, as I am focused on other things.

“While I thank those who want to have my name constantly in the headlines for one important position or the other in the country, rest assured I am fully occupied with my international assignments and loving it,” she said.

Mrs. Okonjo-Iweala, 62, served twice as Nigeria’s finance minister under former presidents Olusegun Obasanjo and Goodluck Jonathan, and was credited with introducing reforms in the country’s financial sector especially during Mr. Obasanjo’s administration.

She holds a PhD in regional economics and development from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, MIT, in United States, and has been listed among the Forbes Magazine’s 100 Most Powerful Women in the World.