Moghalu: Alleged $35,000 bribes for party delegates dangerous omen for 2023

•Says Nigeria needs 21st century president

A Presidential Aspirant on the platform of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), Prof. Kingsley Moghalu, on Monday said doling out $35,000 allegedly to party delegates to sway their votes was a bad omen for the 2023 general elections.

In a statement, the former Deputy Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), explained that what Nigeria needs a modern, 21st century president instead of persons who just want to fulfill their lifetime ambitions, arguing that the presidency is a unique job, not a mere political promotion or an entitlement.

In 2023, he said with Nigeria’s present national crisis, its people should elect a president that would fix the economy, unite its diverse peoples, secure its territory and people, and restore its standing in the world.

“The desperation of politicians in the 2023 presidential election cycle gives cause for alarm. From N100 million presidential nomination forms to $35,000 delegate bribes and INEC’s shifting of the deadline for primaries, seemingly to accommodate the political party in power today, there are dangerous omens.

“It is up to us as Nigerians to decide if we will be fooled again in 2023. To make real progress, we must break from the past. We must now elect leaders who offer us a clear, coherent vision, competence, and a plan,” he stated.

As an aspirant for the responsibility of president of Nigeria in 2023, on the platform of the ADC, he stated that he was offering the country a clear vision and plan, articulated in his book “Build, Innovate and Grow (BIG).”

“The high office of president of Nigeria is a job, not an entitlement based on the number of years a candidate has spent in politics or merely on personal ambition.

“In 2023 Nigerians should elect a candidate who has the competences, experience and performance track record that is directly relevant to the job,” he noted.

According to him, the core functions of the president of Nigeria are: nation-building, which involves managing diversity, building a united nation, and building strong institutions).

In addition, he listed national security, economy as well as foreign affairs and international diplomacy as some other functions the president much carry out.

Based on the requirements, he stressed that he remained the man for the job, with an excellent worldview, having been  a United Nations official for 17 years in New York, Cambodia, Croatia, Rwanda, and Switzerland.

He said he led resource mobilisation and the building of global partnerships for the Geneva-based institution, $20 billion Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria that has made social investments to support health systems and save lives in 140 countries, including Nigeria.

 As the founder and CEO of a global investment advisory firm in the private sector, he maintained that he advised and guided major foreign investors into Nigeria and other African countries.

As a Deputy Governor of the CBN from 2009 to 2014, Moghalu stated that he led the execution of extensive reforms that saved the Nigerian financial system from collapse after the global financial crisis of 2008.

“I also led the team that developed and introduced the Bank Verification Number (BVN) which now serves nearly 50 million Nigerians in the banking system.

“My team and I facilitated the introduction of Non-Interest (Islamic) Banking that advanced financial inclusion, as well as the digitalisation of the payment system that made it possible for nearly 100 million Nigerians to make and receive payments on their mobile phones.

“As a member of the Monetary Policy Committee of the CBN, I played an active leadership role, with other colleagues, in economic policy making that successfully crashed inflation from double digits to a single digit of 8 per cent by 2014,” he stated.

According to him, his team managed foreign exchange policy successfully, with the naira exchanging to the dollar at a rate in the range of N150-N165 to $1 during his tenure in office.

“These are transformative achievements in which one played a direct, leadership role. The impact of my life’s work so far has been deep, international, national, and local, empowering millions in Nigeria and around the world,” he noted.

Moghalu further pledged to build and unify the country with  a common national ambition on which everyone agrees, saying that he will proactively secure the country and its people in all of our geopolitical zones. (THISDAY)