He made the announcement while addressing youth groups in the capital, Abuja, this afternoon:

I have decided to answer the call of teeming youth who have asked me to run for president."

Mr Saraki, who is Nigeria's third most senior politician after the president and the vice-president, recently defected from the governing All Progressives Congress (APC) to the main opposition People's Democratic Party (PDP).

He will now have to campaign to win the PDP primary election before going on to contest for the presidency.President Muhammadu Buhari has said that he will run for a second term in 2019.