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Former Deputy Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN),Prof.Kingsley Moghalu, on Wednesday formally declared his intention to run for president in 2019.
Making the declaration at the Shehu Musa Yar’Adua Centre, Abuja, Moghalu, who served in the CBN from 2009 to 2014, said his vision and programmes were laid out in his recently launched book, “Build, Innovate and Grow: My Vision for Our Country”.
Promising to “empower the ‘Office of the Citizen’ to hold the government and governance accountable”, the presidential aspirant said he would reform the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to become independent of the presidency.
He said he would ensure constitutional restructuring to reflect state ownership of resources and the creation of state police.
He said he would establish a “concrete economic diversification plan with a concrete path to a post-oil future for Nigeria, based on emerging global trends”.
Speaking further, Moghalu said: “We must stop recycling failed politicians and regenerate our leadership ranks with competent and experienced young men or women.
“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.
“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.”
Moghalu, a political economist, lawyer and a former United Nations official, said he was yet to decide on the political party with whixh he would vie for the number one job in the country.
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.
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.