Chinelo Obogo

Presidential candidate of the Young Peoples Party (YPP) in the 2019 elections, Dr. Kingsley Muoghalu, has responded to Minister of Labour and Productivity, Dr. Chris Ngige’s comments, querying his decision to contest for the presidency despite Muoghalu’s ‘inexperience’ in politics.

The minister in a recent interview in the Daily Sun  said Muoghalu  failed in his  quest to become President  because the YPP was a relatively unknown party. Ngige also called on the Igbo to pitch tent with the two main political parties, the All Progressives Congress (APC) and Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to actualise their presidential aspiration.

Muoghalu, in a statement, yesterday,  said Ngige’s utterances reflected his arrogance and contempt for the poor masses and that democracy is just a game for the minister. Muoghalu said he is not a visionless, recycled politician that would claim electoral victory on rigged elections and the blood of those  killed in electoral violence.

“The tone of these statements by Ngige reflects his utter contempt and arrogance as a Nigerian politician towards the poor masses and citizens of Nigeria.  Our democracy is just a “game” for him. Being a visionless career politician “carrying politics bag” before graduating to being a political “overlord” is, for some, the whole point of politics. Little wonder that our country is the poverty capital of the world, and the brain drain of our medical doctors to foreign countries is of little or no concern to our Minister of Labour and Employment.

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“I am a change agent, not a visionless, recycled politician that claims mandates on the basis of rigged elections and the blood of Nigerians killed in electoral violence. My candidacy for the office of the President of Nigeria in 2019 was not an ethnic candidacy. I was a Nigerian candidate for the Nigerian presidency, not an “Igbo President”.

That candidacy was based on a clear vision for our country, competence, and a clear policy agenda: to build a real and stable nation based on equality and justice by managing Nigeria’s diversity effectively.

“It is no secret that the Igbo have not been well served by many of their “career” political elites on the national scene. All too often, a majority of these personalities have lacked vision and courage. Some have focused only on the crumbs they can get in and from Abuja. They are content to play second fiddle to their political “masters”. My candidacy in the presidential election of 2019 took courage. Despite pressures from the two major parties, I ran the race till the end, honourably, and declined opportunities to sell out on the national and global vision that drove my candidacy.

“What matters in leadership selection for the presidency is that a potential president should have demonstrated experience and a track record of leadership competence. Who, for example, can stand shoulder to shoulder with world leaders of powerful nations and be able to speak up for and negotiate Nigeria’s best interests bilaterally or multilaterally? Lifetime careers in “traditional” Nigerian politics may not automatically provide the right answers for our countrymen and women in the world of the 21st century,” Muoghalu said.