TheCable

Kingsley Moghalu, ex-deputy governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), has asked Nigerians to replace recycled “failed leaders” with competent and experienced youth.

Moghalu said this at the Shehu Musa Yar’Adua Centre, Abuja, on Wednesday while making a formal declaration of his presidential bid.

He stated his visions, as laid out in his recently launched book, ‘Build, Innovate and Grow: My Vision for Our Country’, Moghalu explained that he is taking a stand to unify Nigeria beyond ethnicity and put the country on the path to progress.

Moghalu said from day one, he would hit the ground running, and announce members of his cabinet in 48 hours, should he emerge the number one citizen of the country.

As part of his plans to transform the country if elected, Moghalu said he would “empower the ‘Office of the Citizen’ to hold the government and governance accountable”.

He also promised to reform the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to become independent of the presidency, while promising to start his anti-corruption war from officials of his own government.

He said he would ensure constitutional restructuring to reflect state ownership of resources and the creation of state police.

Moghalu disclosed his plans to establish a “concrete economic diversification plan with a concrete path to a post-oil future for Nigeria, based on emerging global trends”.

“We must stop recycling failed politicians and regenerate our leadership ranks with competent and experienced young men or women,” Moghalu said.

“Youths who have prepared themselves with the relevant qualifications must take over the mantle of leadership because this struggle is about the future of Nigeria, not its past.

“Strong, knowledgeable guidance is needed, and I offer myself for service with a solid track record of leadership,” he said.

“My fellow Nigerians, to quote the immortal words of the late US president John F. Kennedy, ‘politics is too important to be left to the politicians’.”

“The world is changing: time and tide have in several countries swept away old orders and brought in new, more dynamic ones. Nigeria must not remain stuck in its past. We, you and I, can do it for our country too.”

He, however, said though he has been approached by many political parties, he has not decided under which platform he will run.

He said the movement he is part of, would decide and communicate it in coming weeks.

Moghalu, who served as CBN deputy governor from 2009 to 2014, is a political economist, lawyer and a former United Nations official.

He was also a professor of practice in international business and public policy at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University in Massachusetts, US.

Born on May 7, 1963, Moghalu is a graduate of the London School of Economics. He also read political science at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka.

He is the founder and president of the Institute for Governance and Economic Transformation (IGET), a new think tank based in Abuja.