A former Deputy Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Kingsley Moghalu, has declared to run for the presidency in 2019.

Moghalu made the declaration, on Wednesday, at a world press conference held at the Shehu Musa Yar’adua Centre, Wuse.

According to him, “The combination of military rule, oil booms and busts, and successive leadership failures of the political class have robbed the country “of what seemed our destiny at independence”.

Moghalu also said that the need to begin to focus on individuals seeking elections than on platforms and parties that have delivered wrong candidates and failed leaders that is responsible for where the country is today.

Moghalu said politicians who brought about mess the country is currently faced with, when they were in their 30s, would not bring about any change at age 70.

According to him, “The next president of Nigeria cannot be one who does not understand economics because the country’s problems demands practical solutions.”

Moghalu who did not mention the platforms he will be running on said, “I am standing here today saying that it is time we shatter the downward spiral to nowhere.

“I am here today, standing with the 110 missing girls of Dapchi and their grieving family, and with the traumatised young women of Chibok, those with us and those still in captivity.

“I am here today standing with 180 million Nigerians, in addition to thousands of businesses struggling to share a measly 4000MW of electricity.

“I am here today standing with the 100 million Nigerians experiencing crushing poverty, living on less than 300 naira a day.

“I am here today because 33 million of our able men and women are unemployed or underemployed, nearly 15 million children are out of school, and only 60 per cent of Nigerians are literate.

“I am here today because our hospitals are understaffed and mismanaged death traps, and women are still subject to horrific prejudices and devastating early marriages.

“I am taking this stand, here and now, because Nigeria today is divided by ethnic and religious conflicts, made worse by corruption,” he said.



The ex-CBN deputy governor admitted that he cannot fix the country in months or weeks but assured that changes will take place within shortest possible time.

“Things will be difficult and painful choices will have to be made together. Together we can deliver for ourselves a different outcome,” Moghalu said.

He said Nigerians are “collectively exhausted by politicians who continually fall in and out of alliances with each other and care nothing for the ordinary Nigerian.