Professor Kingsley Moghalu has declared interest to run for president in the 2023 election.
Gatekeepers News reports that the Ex-Deputy Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Kingsley Moghalu, has declared his intention to run for president in the 2023 general elections.
Moghalu while disclosing this in a statement, stated the need for the emergence of visionary, competent, and inclusive national leadership.
The 2019 Presidential candidate for the Young Progressives Party (YPP) with his “Build, Innovate and Grow” manifesto, was strongly endorsed by Nigeria’s Nobel Laureate, Wole Soyinka; Ex-CBN Governor, Sanusi Lamido and the Ooni of Ife, Adeyeye Ogunwusi.
However, he was only able to get a little above 20,000 votes which was equivalent to 1% of the total vote cast in the February general election.
Moghalu, however, made his new declaration to join the race due to the socio-economic state of the country.
The Ex-Deputy CBN Governor in the statement said, “a fundamental restructuring of Nigeria based on a new people’s constitution, on the other, can arrest Nigeria’s ongoing disorderly and violent degeneration into a completely failed state. We were not born to be miserable and to die miserable. Enough is Enough!”
“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.”
Moghalu while stating why he would be contesting again said, “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, however, unveiled his manifesto which he described as ‘SWAG Agenda for a 21st Century Nigeria.’
According to him, “If elected, I will run a government with a dream team of highly competent Nigerians from all parts of our country. Along with strengthened, independent institutions, we will deliver results on a 4-point agenda in four years (4 by 4):
Security for all Nigerians and Nigeria’s territory
War against poverty: skills, jobs for our youth, and an innovation economy
Accelerated education and healthcare reform
Good Governance: Inclusive, transparent, effective, and accountable.
“This is my SWAG Agenda for a 21st century Nigeria. I seek the support of all compatriots—of everyone who is tired of our present national situation.
“We also need the energy and support of the youth, the middle class, entrepreneurs, and our compatriots in the diaspora. These important segments of our population have in the past been reluctant to engage actively in our electoral process, ostensibly because of the flaws in that process.”
He further urged the National Assembly to “pass into law, with no further delay, necessary electoral reforms that will make democracy yield real dividends for Nigerians.
“The amendments should include a provision for Diaspora Nigerians to be able to register and vote in all elections in Nigeria from abroad.”
Moghalu added, “I am only one face of a movement. A movement of silent and suffering Nigerians fed up with the insecurity, poverty, and a seemingly hopeless future for our country. A movement that 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.
“We can do this. We can change Nigeria.”
According to him, “Together, let us walk this road to a Nigeria that, within 30 years of successive administrations, will have achieved the kind of economic and technological advancement attained by countries such as Israel, Malaysia, Singapore, South Korea, and the United Arab Emirates within similar timeframes.”
He, therefore, urged Nigerians to actively participate in the democratic process and vote right when the time comes.
