In what looks like a Christmas gift, Prof. Kingsley Moghalu has announced his withdrawal from contesting for public office in Nigeria. In 2019, Prof. Moghalu led the conversation on the need for Nigerians to rescue their country from public officials mostly of the two dominant political parties; PDP and APC. The intensity of his messaging and the conviction with which he drives home his point, earned him massive followership and from all indications, laid the foundation for the rising conversation today which has now decentralized national political contest.
Speaking on Arise Tv’s Prime Time on Friday evening, Prof. Moghalu said, “I am no longer running for office in Nigeria; I am running my life”. Explaining what that means, he said that he has come to fully appreciate that there are so many other ways to serve the country and the people, without running for public office. “You must not be partisan”, Moghalu declared. Prof. Moghalu then noted that as the Chairman of a Think-Thank Group; Institute for Governance and Economic Transformation – IGET, the very nature of this role demands that he stays out of partisan politics. But even beyond that, the former CBN Deputy Governor said he has had his fair share of experience and must now move on to other things so that he can continue to make meaningful contributions towards the country’s prosperity. Only about a month ago, IGET had published its report on poverty in Nigeria, entitled, “Nigeria’s Poverty Trap – And How to End it”. The publication, Moghalu confirmed, garnered a lot of feedback even from a number of Presidential candidates in the 2023 General Election.
Having played in the Nigerian political space since 2019 till his resignation from the ADC few months ago, Prof. Moghalu said he picked up three critical lessons; Nigerian politics is a money guzzler, and this has adverse impact on the country’s politics. Secondly, he said the Electoral Act which was signed into law was a major breakthrough and that the lessons he learnt from 2019 pushed him to make efforts and inputs towards the passage of that Act which has now improved our electoral system. Finally, he regretted that Nigerians are not ready for the change they want.
Commenting on 2023 Presidential Election, Prof. Moghalu admitted that APC and PDP remains the dominant political parties in Nigeria, but now not unchallenged. “APC and PDP remain the dominant political parties, but they are no longer unchallenged”, he said. Speaking on who wins the presidential election, Moghalu said whoever wins will need to go beyond partisanship. “Whoever wins, the problems of Nigeria cannot be resolved on partisanship. There has to be national consensus”. In his further comments on 2023, Prof. Moghalu noted that “there will be surprises in 2023”. He also said that the election outcome remains uncertain because of complexities that will have significant impact in the election outcome.
He is a Technical Assistant to Governor Willie Obiano’s Special Adviser on Legislative Matters, whoonce was a Special Adviser to a former Deputy Speaker of Anambra State House of Assembly. Ebuka is a second class upper division graduate of Political Science from University of Calabar, Calabar Nigeria and holds a Masters Degree in Political Science with specialization in Government and Development Studies, from Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka Nigeria
