BY ROTIMI DUROJAIYE
As the 2023 general elections draw nearer, a presidential aspirant, Kingsley Moghalu, has noted with misgivings that Nigerians are tired of the failure of traditional politics, while enjoining them to focus on governance beyond politics if the country must escape from the current mess it has found itself.
He also warned Nigerians not to continue to recycle old politicians that have remained in charge of affairs for many decades.
Moghalu stated these at a press conference in Abuja at the weekend, while joining the African Democratic Congress.
Moghalu, a former deputy governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, a political economist, lawyer and author, regretted that the political status quo and its two major parties have failed Nigerians.
According to him, to vote for them again is to waste your vote.
“The results, for the past 22 years, include rigged elections, Nigeria as the poverty capital of the world, 4,000 megawatts of electricity for 200 million people, 33% unemployment, terrorism, and our lives today cheaper than the naira to the dollar. We must now focus on governance beyond politics if we are ever to escape from today’s mess and the misery it will surely continue to generate if the same recycled politicians remain in charge,” he charged.
Moghalu noted that every part of Nigeria today can benefit from being part of one big, united, prosperous and powerful nation.
“To achieve this vision, we need a new “Third Way” politics anchored on pragmatic ideology and visionary, competent leadership. I believe we can re-engineer Nigeria’s economy through a system of developmental capitalism that taps into the well-known dynamism and innovative spirit of Nigerian youth. My vision is one in which millions of youths can create jobs and move out of poverty and into the middle class, the market functions well, the government creates an enabling policy environment for all Nigerians to achieve prosperity, and an effective social security system is established to take care of our elderly population,” he added.
Going down memory lane, Moghalu recalled that for the past year, he had been part of a group of individuals and political parties working towards the emergence of a “Third Force” in the Nigerian political space.
He noted that millions of Nigerian men and women, tired of the failure of traditional politics, are waiting eagerly for the emergence of such a platform.
“I am pleased to announce today that I have joined the African Democratic Congress (ADC) political party. The ADC is a key player in this effort to create a new and bigger “mega party” platform through a merger of several political parties to take power in 2023 and begin the work of rebuilding our beleaguered country.
“I feel ideologically aligned with the ADC. Since its founding in 2005 to date, including in the 2019 general elections in which the party presented the late Dr. Obadiah Mailafia as its presidential candidate, the ADC has remained consistent in its commitment to the emergence of true democracy in Nigeria, and to the role of belief, passion, and ideas in nation-building. The party has shunned food-is-ready and divisive ethno-centric politics,” he stressed.
He said he was honoured to become a card-carrying member of the ADC, stressing that, “In doing so, I restate my public announcement on June 1, 2021, making myself available to lead our country as a competent, 21st century President, and my intention to contest in the 2023 presidential election. I look forward to a close collaboration with the chairman of our great party, Chief Ralph Okey Nwosu, Alhaji Said Baba Abdullahi, the ADC national secretary and the national executive committee, the chair of the board of trustees, distinguished Senator Patricia Akwashiki and her colleagues on the BOT, and the members and candidates of the ADC, for the party’s growth and expansion in the months ahead. I ask all my political supporters, including those aspiring to be elected to gubernatorial positions and the national and state legislatures, to join the ADC.”
