A former Deputy Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Kingsley Moghalu, has obtained forms to contest for president on the platform of the African Democratic Congress (ADC).
Mr Moghalu paid a total of N25 million to pick the nomination and expression of interest forms at the party’s national secretariat in Abuja on Tuesday.
The ex-CBN boss first declared interest to join the 2023 race late May 2021, four months before joining the ADC.
He had run for the same position in 2019 under the Young Progressive Party (YPP) where he scored 21,886 (0.08) votes to place 14th position behind the winner, President Muhammadu Buhari of the APC.
After picking his forms, Mr Moghalu expressed his position on zoning, insecurity and his perception on who should lead the country for another four years.
Against the backdrop of the arguments on zoning of the topmost seat, he aligned with the calls by South-east leaders for the region to produce the next president.
Mr Moghalu also advocated the reformation of the police force to tackle insecurity in the country.
“As president, I will reform the Nigeria Police Force. I will increase the number of police from 250,000 to one million operatives. It is through effective intelligence gathering that we can fight terrorism and win.
“We will take out whatever threatens the nation’s security, because the political will to secure Nigeria is there,” he told journalists.
On the lingering Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) strike action which has just been extended by 12 weeks, the ex-CBN chief said he will allocate 20 percent of Nigeria’s budget to the education sector, if elected.
“Inflation is the worst act on the poor. It erodes the ability of households to save and devalues the purchasing power of the currency.
“If there’s high inflation, then it is a performance failure. When I become the president, I will ensure we have an independent CBN with competent leadership,” he said.
