Former presidential candidate of Young Progressive Party (YPP) in 2019, Prof Kingsley Moghalu yesterday declared his intention to contest for president in 2023.
The former deputy governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), said his decision to re-contest the top seat is driven by concern for the youths who are being drowned in reckless foreign borrowing as well as for Nigerians suffering and seeking a clear alternative to the status quo.
He added that the time to stop Nigeria from ongoing disorderly and violent degeneration to a completely failed state has come.
Moghalu in a statement he personally signed, added that he would run on a four-point agenda which he code-named SWAG.
He explained that SWAG means Security for all Nigerians and Nigeria’s territory; War against poverty: skills, jobs for our youths, and an innovation economy; Accelerated education and healthcare reform; Good governance: inclusive, transparent, effective, and accountable.
The political economist however said the political party on whose platform he would contest the presidential election would be revealed soon.
He however tasked the National Assembly to pass necessary electoral reforms into law just as he canvassed diaspora voting.
Moghalu, a former United Nations official, resigned from YPP in 2019. He however denied joining the All Progressives Congress (APC) in 2020. His declaration to contest the 2023 election comes against the backdrop of the recent declaration by the Southern and Middle Belt Leaders Forum that the two leading political parties in Nigeria, PDP and APC should offer their tickets to Southern candidates.
In his statement yesterday, Moghalu said, “It is now more than ever necessary that we elect in 2023 a leader who is truly committed and has the capacity to initiate the constitutional restructuring of Nigeria.
“A leader who is competent to secure our lives and property, successfully manage our diversity, save our economy, and restore our international respect.
“For the sake of the youth of our country-including my four children- whose future is being drowned in reckless foreign borrowing and for the sake of all Nigerians suffering and seeking a clear alternative to the status quo, I intend with, all humility, to present myself-again- as a candidate for the office of the president of the Federal Republic of Nigeria in the 2023 general elections.”
He added that only the emergence of visionary, competent, and inclusive national leadership, on the one hand, and a fundamental restructuring of Nigeria based on a new people’s constitution, on the other hand, can arrest Nigeria’s ongoing disorderly and violent degeneration into a completely failed state.
“We were not born to be miserable and to die miserably. Enough is enough,” he declared.
He said if elected, he would run a government with a team of highly competent Nigerians from all parts of the country.
“Along with strengthened, independent institutions, we will deliver results on a 4 point agenda in four years. Security for all Nigerians and Nigeria’s territory; war against poverty: skills, jobs for our youths and an innovation economy; Accelerated education and healthcare reform; good governance: inclusive, transparent, effective and accountable.”
He however added that the National Assembly must pass into law the necessary electoral reforms that will make democracy yield real dividends for Nigerians.
“Our votes must count and be counted transparently. The amendments should include a provision for Diaspora Nigerians to be able to register and vote in all elections in Nigeria from abroad,” he said.
He described himself as only one face of a movement, the movement of silent Nigerians fed up with the insecurity, poverty, and seemingly hopeless future for the country, which has decided that enough is enough.
“That movement, soon to be present in our numbers in every voting ward in Nigeria, will announce within the next few months the political party we will join en masse and seek its platform for the presidential, legislative, and gubernatorial roles in governance,” he added.
He asked for the support of all compatriots who are tired of the present national situation.
He said the energy and support of the youth, middle class, entrepreneurs, and compatriots in the diaspora is needed.
