PACT: I’m Still Running, Says Moghalu
Former Deputy Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, and Presidential aspirant of the Young Progressives Party, YPP, Kingsley Moghalu, has rejected the emergence of Fela Durotoye of the Alliance for a New Nigeria (ANN), as the consensus presidential candidate of the umbrella platform, Presidential Aspirants Coming Together (PACT).
Professor Moghalu, has also announced that he is still firmly in the presidential race.
This is following Thursday’s voting process among 18 presidential aspirants under PACT who came together to elect a consensus candidate ahead of the 2019 elections.
At the end of the two-staged voting process that later had only eight of the aspirants out of the 18 who participated, Fela Durotoye of ANN emerged consensus candidate of PACT.
However, just before the end of the exercise, four of the aspirants who were present “withdrew from the process even while the voting process was ongoing,” claimed Moghalu, adding therefore that “the PACT did not produce a true consensus candidate.”
Making his intention for withdrawing from PACT and continuing with his presidential race, Mohgalu said that “The reasons I have pulled out of the PACT arrangement are as follows:
- The arrangement had unraveled even before the final selection of the consensus candidate.”
- He also said that “I therefore have chosen to continue without distraction to pursue my vision in the presidential race for 2019 in the national interest and in deference to the overwhelming outpouring of support for my candidacy from all parts of Nigeria.”
Below is his full statement. “I am firmly in the race for President of Nigeria in 2019.
“I wish to inform members of my “To Build A Nation” (TBAN) movement, the Kingsley Moghalu Support Organisation (KIMSO) nationwide, the Kingsley Moghalu Volunteer Force, Youth for Kingsley (Y4K), Women for Kingsley (W4K), Kingsley Moghalu Disciples, the Young Progressive Party (YPP) and my other supporters nationwide and in the diaspora that I am pressing ahead with my plan to contest the 2019 presidential election.
“This is despite the arrangement for a consensus candidate among the young presidential aspirants under the aegis of Presidential Aspirants Coming Together (PACT), which today produced an outcome that has left many Nigerians expressing surprise and disappointment.
“The reasons I have pulled out of the PACT arrangement are as follows: 1. The arrangement had unraveled even before the final selection of the consensus candidate. “Only seven aspirants participated in the final voting out of the original 18 aspirants, mainly because many of the aspirants had withdrawn from the process.
“Four candidates who were present in the meeting this morning withdrew from the process even while the voting process was ongoing. Therefore, PACT did not produce a true consensus candidate.
“2. Clause 13 of the PACT Memorandum of Understanding asserts the supremacy of the constitutional rights of the aspirants to pursue their political aspirations.
“I therefore have chosen to continue without distraction to pursue my vision in the presidential race for 2019 in the national interest and in deference to the overwhelming outpouring of support for my candidacy from all parts of Nigeria.
“I will remain focused on the objective of providing a competent leadership that will help unite our country and build a nation, wage a decisive war against poverty and unemployment, and restore respect for Nigeria in the society of nations.
“It is my humble and well-considered view that the Office of the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria requires competence and experience in these three vital areas. Thank you.”
