…Calls For ‘Third Way’ Politics
A former Deputy Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, Prof Kingsley Moghalu, has officially decamped to the African Democratic Congress, ADC.
Moghalu, the presidential candidate of the Young Progressives Party, YPP, in the 2019 presidential election, disclosed this in a statement, over the weekend, and gave reasons for joining the party.
He said “For the past year, I have been part of a group of individuals and political parties working towards the emergence of a ‘Third Force’ in the Nigerian political space.
“I am pleased to announce today that I have joined the African Democratic Congress, ADC. The ADC is a key player in this effort to create a new and bigger ‘megaparty’ platform, through a merger of several political parties to take power in 2023 and begin the work of rebuilding our beleaguered country.
“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 youth 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.
“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.
“The political status quo and its two major parties have failed Nigerians. 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 per cent 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.
“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, BoT 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.”
Moghalu, a lawyer and political economist, and the presidential candidate of the YPP in the 2019 presidential election, left the YPP in October 2019 and did not join any other party since then.
Moghalu has, however, remained an influential voice on national issues, including the economy, nation-building and governance.
He was recently identified as one of the leaders of an emerging “Third Force.’’
He recently served as the Special Envoy of the UN on Post-COVID Development Finance for Africa.
Mr Moghalu’s new party fielded Pat Utomi as its candidate in the 2007 presidential election.
