Nosa Alekhuogie
The Presidential Candidate of the Young Progressive Party (YPP), Prof. Kingsley Moghalu, has stressed the need for stronger institutions in the country.
Moghalu, said this when he appeared as a guest on ‘The Morning Show,’ on Arise TV, a THISDAY sister broadcast station yesterday.
According to the former Deputy Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), the ongoing fight against corruption in the country has failed.
“I will set the EFCC free and it will not be reporting to the president.
“The CBN in my time, when Sanusi Lamido Sanusi was the governor was independent, that was why we were able to record all the successes we achieved.
“Institutions that are independent and strong are necessary to check absolute power,” he argued.
He stressed the need to have a more professional approach to the management of security in the country.
“On the issue of security, I don’t make promises. I have a plan and also how to execute it. Security has gotten worse and it is a tragedy of monumental proportion that a man who was a General in the Army promised to secure Nigeria and security has gotten worse under his leadership.
“It is not just Boko Haram, it’s also the Fulani herdsmen and so many other things. Do not be deceived by the fact that somebody is a General or civilian, I would secure Nigeria far better as the president of Nigeria in 2019.
“I would come to national security with a much better conceptual understanding of what national security means. The understanding of security in Buhari’s government is a tunnel vision which is just about boko haram, but national security is many things. It is the ever increasing rate of poverty in this country. It has national security implications.”
Speaking further, Moghalu argued that Nigeria was not yet a nation, saying “it is a nation waiting to be born.”
He added: “Right now, Nigeria is just a country. As president, my biggest vision for this country is to build it into a nation.”
He said there was need to strengthen and equip the Nigeria Police Force to improve internal security in the country.
“We have 350,000 police force today and we are 200 million people. This country has serious security issues which needs to be addressed.
“We also have issues with our relations with neighbouring countries, Chad, Cameroon and so on. The army should be focused on cross border military intelligence,” he said.
He criticised the policy document launched recently by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) presidential candidate, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar as well as President Muhammadu Buhari’s ‘NextLevel.”
“Atiku’s document made the mistake of focusing on GDP. It is not focused on transformation of the society and millions of people from poverty into the middle class.”
He also said if elected, his administration would promote gender equality. He, however, emphasised that competence would be prioritised.
“We would use public education to address the root causes on why we discriminate against women,” he added.
Responding to a question on Nigeria’s rising debt profile, the presidential candidate said: “I am going to have a moratorium on foreign borrowing. This is because it is unnecessary, it is a lazy man’s’ economics.
“In Nigeria, we have 200 million people with a big economy, so if you can’t generate income internally, it means you are not doing something right.
“The economy is not strong enough to sustain the level of foreign debt. Over 60 per cent of all the revenue Nigeria earns today goes to repaying foreign debt.”
