“We have assessed all the aspirants who have presented themselves for office and come to the objective decision that Professor Kingsley Moghalu is the best.”
By Emma Ogbuehi
The quest by the former Deputy Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to replace General Muhammadu Buhari as president of Nigeria has received a major boost with the endorsement of a support group that had hitherto rooted for former Vice President Atiku Abubakar.
The group, Ätiku State of Mind,” which pledged loyalty to Moghalu in Abuja on Friday is now known as “Moghalu State of Mind.”
Moghalu, who was the presidential candidate of the Young Progressives Party (YPP) in the 2019 elections is a presidential aspirant on the platform of the African Democratic Congress (ADC).
The group said they decided to dump Atiku for Moghalu because the former CBN chieftain remains the best among those aspiring to govern the country in 2023.
In a speech at the decamping event, Pharm. Hassan Ankuma, National Coordinator of the group, said, “In Prof. Kingsley Moghalu we have a leader who will be coming to Aso Rock with no baggage. He is vastly experienced on a global scale. His time as Deputy Governor at the Central Bank of Nigeria revealed his innovative side when he rolled out the BVN we enjoy today, a system that could be used to fight crime. A lot of my colleagues and I do business with an Islamic bank. I understand that the Professor is the man who facilitated its establishment.
“Prof. Kingsley Moghalu is a sincere man and we trust him. We have read his manifesto and we are satisfied because his plan does not say he is qualified based on the origin of his wife. His plan is realistic and achievable. It is scientific and he has the discipline to follow through.”
Aside competence and capacity, Ankuma said justice, equity and fair play demand that the Southeast should produce the president.
“At this point, permit me to say that, for equity, equality, unity and justice, power should go to the South East in 2023. We are all Nigerians and nobody is more Nigerian than the other.”
Giving reason why they dumped Atiku, the group said the fact that he married from different zones of the country does not make him a patriot and a unifier.
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“We don’t want a leader who ceded his authority to ruthless cabals and family members who have absolute disregard for the rights of citizens. We will not accept a leader who treats women like commodities, marrying from different regions, not because of love but for political mileage. Leadership is not marriage nor is it proof of a unifier.”
The speech reads in part: “My name is Pharm. Hassan Ankuma. I am National Coordinator of the vibrant pro-Atiku Support group known as Atiku State of Mind. Apart from our online advocacy, we have boots on ground across the 36 states and Abuja. We believe that all politics is local and our presence in the grassroots has always been our greatest strength.
“Today we are gathered, coordinators from Rivers to Borno and from Sokoto to Nnewi, to begin a new journey that is inspired by new information and realizations.
“The mistake in the past was always looking to support candidates from the two major political parties in Nigeria, the APC and the PDP, as though they alone exist in a vacuum.
“The reliance on these popular political parties is why we have consistently voted for the wrong leaders because we can only vote for the flag bearers of these platforms even if we know that they are mediocre or, at best, too average to actually move Nigeria forward.
“As usual, we began the journey to 2023 the same way.
“But as Nigeria gets worse every day, one comes to the realization that there’s a lot to fear for, about our immediate future.
“This led us to take a deep breath, take a step back and reexamine more thoroughly, the choices before us. This is make or break season for Nigeria.
“The questions before us were:
“What kind of challenges does Nigeria have now?
“What manner of leader has what it takes to tackle them?
“Who are the caliber of people around the aspirants, the people whose influence will be most telling on our collective destinies should they be given the keys to Aso Rock?
“Which of the aspirants is coming to the race with little or no baggage?
“Who is most honest about their plans for Nigeria and Nigerians?
“The deep reflection derived from the answers to these questions is what has led us here.
“We have assessed all the aspirants who have presented themselves for office and come to the objective decision that Professor Kingsley Moghalu is the best.”