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Tag: Kingsley Moghalu

Moghalu Recommends ₦75,000 to ₦100,000 Minimum Wage Amid Labour’s ₦100,000 Proposal
Kingsley Moghalu, former deputy governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), has endorsed the organized labour’s consideration of a ₦100,000 minimum wage for Nigerian workers. This follows the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and the Trade Union Congress (TUC) repeatedly proposing ₦615,500 and ₦494,000 respectively, citing inflation and economic hardship.
On June 3, organized labour declared a strike over the new minimum wage and increased electricity tariffs for Band A customers. However, the strike was suspended after a meeting with the Federal Government to allow for further negotiation.
In a post on his X handle, Moghalu acknowledged the need for a higher minimum wage but noted that Nigeria’s current productivity levels cannot support the ₦400,000 wage proposed by the NLC. He recommended a more realistic minimum wage range of ₦75,000 to ₦100,000.
Moghalu emphasized that improving productivity through human capital development and better electricity supply is essential. He stated, “In the debates on the national wage in Nigeria, we miss the fundamental point: there is little or no productivity in the economy. If we had a truly productive economy, there is no reason we can’t have the kind of minimum wage of 400 or 500K that Labour wants. But we can’t, because the level of productivity in the economy cannot support it.”
He also highlighted that the minimum wage issue extends beyond government salaries to include the private sector and household staff. Moghalu pointed out the need to avoid a minimum wage that could exacerbate inflation and questioned the productivity and skill level of the average Nigerian worker, which impacts the value they create.
June 5, 2024
Why I Support The Redesign Of Naira by CBN – Kingsley Moghalu
A former Deputy Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Kingsley Moghalu, on Friday explained why he is in support of the bank’s recent decision to redesign naira notes.
In a series of tweets, Mr Moghalu said the CBN is trying to gain control over money supply in the economy.
He noted that while the move may not stem inflation, it is “necessary step.”
“I fully support the Central Bank’s redesign of the Naira,” he said. “If 80% of bank notes in circulation are outside the banks, that’s troubling. The CBN obviously wants to force all those notes back into the banking system. Those with the notes must surrender to get new ones or else it becomes illegal tender after January 31 2023.
“This is also a way to withdraw currency from circulation, an unorthodox way of tightening the money supply since the country is battling high inflation.
“The flip side is that people who are holding huge amounts of cash outside the banking system for nefarious reasons will go the parallel forex market to buy hard currency, putting further downward pressure on the value of the Naira as too much Naira will be chasing too few dollars.
“I doubt it will solve inflation because there also are other major reasons for inflation such as the forex crisis, which this new move could exacerbate, as well the impact of the security crisis on food price inflation.
“But overall it is a necessary step.
“I just think the time window for its implementation is rather short. This will put a lot of operational pressure on commercial banks and the financial system in general. A 90 day window would have been better, but one can understand the need to avoid interfering with the elections.”
October 28, 2022
Moghalu Dumps ADC After Losing Presidential Ticket
Former Deputy Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Kingsley Moghalu has resigned from the African Democratic Congress.
He left the party after losing the party’s presidential ticket to the founder of Roots Television, Mr. Dumebi Kachikwu.
In a letter dated June 13 and addressed to ADC’s National Chairman, Chief Okey Ralphs Nwosu, Moghalu said the presidential primary had been wrought with inconsistencies.
“I am writing to hand in my resignation from my membership of the African Democratic Congress, effective immediately,” Moghalu’s said in his letter.
“I have resigned because the process and conduct of the party’s presidential primary on June 8, 2022 at Abeokuta revealed a fundamental clash of values between me and your leadership of the party.
“Despite the circular you issued a few days to the primary committing the party to providing transportation and accommodation for delegates to and in Abeokuta, and which as we agreed would provide a level playing for all the presidential aspirants, the party under your leadership failed to do so. Some aspirants, including myself, made donations to the ADC party account as requested by the party for this purpose. This failure, which appeared intentional, created room for massive abuses of the electoral process including delegate capture and financial inducement of delegates. This is only one of numerous inconsistencies and the absence of transparency and predictability in the management of the party that I had progressively complained about.
“As you are well aware, I have consistently resisted pressures to join the APC or the PDP precisely to avoid “cash-and-carry” politics. For me to remain a member of the ADC therefore, after what thousands of party members participated in at Abeokuta, would be to endorse political corruption of a most obscene order.
“I joined the ADC in October 2021 with the best of intentions. Since then, I have put my entire team to work on growing and improving the party, including raising the party’s visibility on all media platforms, recruiting more than 10,000 new members to the party, and providing new offices for various state chapters of the party at my expense. It is deeply regrettable that other inducements appear to have played more important roles in determining the outcome of the primary than loyalty to the party.”
June 13, 2022
2023 : Prof. Moghalu Buys ADC Presidential Nomination Form
A former Deputy Governor of the CBN, Prof. Kingsley Moghalu, on Tuesday, formally joined the 2023 presidential race after doling out the required N25m to obtain the presidential nomination and expression of interest forms of the African Democratic Congress, ADC.
Moghalu told correspondents at the ADC national secretariat in Abuja that politics in Nigeria should be detribalised for the nation to grow and take its rightful place in the comity of nations.
He noted that competent leaders are found in all tribes and religions, adding that it was high time technocrats, intellectuals and experienced people took power from Nigeria’s career politicians.
Nevertheless, Moghalu insisted that the geo-political zones which were yet to produce the president of the country should be given the opportunity to do so come 2023.
He promised to tackle the challenges of insecurity, inflation and the wobbly education sector.
Moghalu said his first step to providing security for the nation would be to reform the police and increase the number of its operatives by 300 percent.
He said, “As president, I will reform the Nigeria Police Force. I will increase the 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.”
Speaking on the state of the economy, the former CBN chief said that he would strengthen the leadership of the apex bank to achieve true independence, necessary for tackling the country’s hyperinflation.
“Inflation is the most 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.
Moghalu also said he would ensure that at least 20 percent of the country’s annual budget would be spent on education in order to revamp the sector and permanently end the recurring ASUU strike debacle.
Earlier, the ADC national chairman, Chief Ralph Okey Nwosu, said that with credible people joining the presidential race, Nigeria was on a march to greatness; adding that the country would become a global super-power only with competent leadership.
May 10, 2022
How I Will Secure Nigeria as President – Moghalu
As President of Nigeria from 2023, I will secure Nigeria and the lives and properties of Nigerians in the North, South, East and West of our country. How?
1. I will have the political will to secure our country. This means putting our security above all else: no security, no country. Political will is the willingness and ability to take tough decisions to secure Nigeria, including NOT succumbing to or being deceived by vested interests that might be profiting from the killing field Nigeria has become. It also means putting Nigeria’s security above ethnic or religious interests. It means loyalty to the lives of Nigerians and the territory of Nigeria first, no matter where within our country.
2. Expanding the strength of our Armed Forces by vastly increasing their numbers in order to take control of land territory occupied by terrorists. Tucano jets alone won’t win the war against terrorism.
3. Massive reform of the Nigeria Police Force – training, equipment, specialization, intelligence capabilities, force expansion to one million men and women (will also create jobs for the unemployed who of course must first be properly trained.) The weakness of the Nigerian police is the first institutional incentive for insecurity in Nigeria. This includes the police brutality and extrajudicial killings that claimed the life of Boko Haram’s original leader Mohammed Yusuf and further radicalized them, and also triggered #EndSARS.
4. Reform border security in Nigeria to protect the Nigerian territorial space more effectively. Terrorists can’t be allowed access into Nigeria on a wrong interpretation of the ECOWAS Protocols on Movement of Persons in the West African sub-region or on the basis of ethnic affinities separated by the artificial boundaries created by colonial powers.
5. Improve with strategic communication and official government policy our sense of nationhood to become our brother’s keepers across the length and breadth of Nigeria. Create a unified psychological and nationalistic response to terrorism.
6. Improve the collection, coordination, and use of intelligence.
7. Re-professionalize Nigeria’s security architecture. Right now, it’s based on ethnic-religious affiliation, and regime security versus real national security.
8. A proactive versus reactive national security stance. We will take the battle to the evil people and not wait for them to strike first while we write the Book of Lamentations.
April 4, 2022
Nigeria on the Brink: Moghalu to Address a World Press Conference
Professor Kingsley Moghalu, a former Deputy Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and 2023 presidential aspirant under the African Democratic Congress (ADC) party platform, cordially invites your esteemed media organisation to send journalists to attend his world press conference for this week.
The event, slated to hold on Thursday, 17 March 2022, at No. 8, Lake Chad Crescent, Maitama, Abuja, at 11:00am, will address the multiple crises of leadership that are threatening to cause a general breakdown of the country’s socio-economic order – which has been degenerative as a result of the misgovernance of the past years – at a time of global geopolitical tension and economic instability.
The issues to be addressed include the rising inflation in Nigeria and its impact on the welfare of the people; unabating insecurity, featuring shrinking governed spaces and expanding ungoverned spaces; high unemployment – made more worrisome by youth unemployment rate of over 40%; and the continuing weakening of the education system, currently highlighted by the resumption of strike by the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU).
On the international front, the invasion of Ukraine by Russia is a geopolitical risk of a mammoth proportion. Beyond its impact on the domestic energy price through higher landing cost of Premium Motor Spirt (petrol), the war in Ukraine can destabilise global markets and world peace.
The world press conference will also address critical issues concerning the 2023 general election in Nigeria.
About Professor Kingsley Moghalu
Moghalu was a candidate in the 2019 presidential election. His candidacy in that election pointed Nigeria towards an alternative leadership profile and possibility. Moghalu is a presidential aspirant in the 2023 general election. The former UN diplomat served as CBN Deputy Governor between 2009 and 2014.
Moghalu’s track record of excellent professional performance includes his leadership role as CBN Deputy Governor, Financial System Stability (FSS) directorate, in the Central Bank’s successful reform of the Nigerian banking system following the global financial crisis. The intervention and reform ensured that no Nigerian bank failed, no depositor lost a kobo of their savings, and the introduction of the BVN has made the banking system safer and serves as a catalyst for the growth of fintech in the financial market.
Moghalu discharged major security, economic and nation-building responsibilities at the UN, including the rebuilding of post-conflict states including Rwanda after the genocide, Cambodia, and Croatia.
His leadership experience, global and national, is unique in its relevance to the execution of the core functions of the Office of the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, which are national security, nation-building, the economy, and foreign affairs.
March 16, 2022
Zamfara killing shows how valueless lives are under Buhari govt – Kingsley Moghalu
Former Presidential candidate, Kingsley Moghalu has reacted to the latest reports of several villagers being massacred by escaping bandits in Zamfara state.
Reports had that over 200 villagers in Anka and Bukkuyum local government areas of the state were killed by fleeing bandits.
It was gathered that the bandits, loyal to terror kingpin, Bello Turji, who were fleeing as a result of ongoing military operations, were trying to leave the state with large number of animals when they invaded some villages in the two local government areas, killing over 200, burning houses and valuables.
The attacked villages include: Rafin Danya, Barayar Zaki, Rafin Gero and Kurfa.
Moghalu, reacting to the killings said this and other tragedies in Nigeria shows how valueless lives have become in the country.
According to him, these killings will only end when Nigerians elect a competent government.
On his Twitter page, Moghalu wrote: “My heart goes out to the families of the over 200 persons killed by terrorists in Zamfara.
“This and other tragedies say how valueless life has become in Nigeria. When will this end? When we elect a competent government that can secure our lives, the first duty of government.”
January 9, 2022
Don’t be an enemy of democracy, sign the amended electoral law – Moghalu to Buhari
Former presidential candidate and chieftain of the African Democratic Party (ADC), Professor Kingsley Moghalu, has expressed worries over the delay in presidential assent to the amended electoral law of Nigeria.
Moghalu re-echoed calls already made to President Buhari to sign the amended electoral law aimed at deepening democracy in the country especially ensuring transparency in the conduct of elections in the country.
Reports that the amended electoral law of Nigeria provides for electronic voting and the electronic transmission of results.
According to the former Deputy Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), in a statement forwarded to DAILY POST which partly said, “His Excellency, President Muhammadu Buhari, let me say to you sir, as a citizen of Nigeria with all due respect, if you fail to sign the amended electoral law with a provision for electronic voting and the electronic transmission of results, you will be an enemy of democracy.
“You declined assent to an amended electoral law in 2018, doubtless because you were a candidate and wanted “scope” to ensure your victory in 2019. In 2023, you will not be a candidate”.
He urged the President to leave a legacy of facilitating a transparent democracy.
According to the Moghalu, “that requires at a minimum, transparent collation and transmission of results and ideally, direct primaries in political parties”.
December 8, 2021
Lekki Toll Gate Massacre Inquiry Report: Press Statement by Professor Kingsley Moghalu
Now that the Lagos State Judicial Panel of Inquiry has affirmed that peaceful Nigerian citizens protesting police brutality were massacred at Lekki Toll Gate in Lagos a year ago, the individuals in the Nigerian Army and the Nigerian Police Force who gave the unlawful orders for the extra judicial killings — as well as those who pulled the trigger –must pay for their crimes with prosecution and imprisonment.

As I said when the news of the killings broke to the world, these are violations of international humanitarian law in addition to national laws. This was mass murder, and attempted mass murder, pure and simple. The perpetrators must not go free, and adequate restitution — which also is within the mandate of the judicial panel — must be made to all the protesters who were murdered in cold blood, injured or assaulted.

As a United Nations official in the mid-1990s, I trained Cambodian and Croatian security institutions in human rights standards to prevent the kind of extrajudicial killings and police brutality that occurred at Lekki and which the #EndSARS protests confronted. Nigeria has turned into a country marked by an increasing rise of official lawlessness, arbitrariness and repression of its citizens by agencies of the Government. This does not behoove a country that claims to be a democracy. Root and branch reform of the Nigerian Army and the Nigerian Police Force on respect for the human rights of Nigerian civilians remains urgently needed. It must not only be declared as done or as a rhetorical objective. It must be seen to have happened going forward.

President Muhammadu Buhari should take responsibility as the Commander-in-Chief of the Nigerian Armed Forces for the Lekki Toll Gate Massacre. He must ensure and enforce accountability for this heinous crime by troops and other security agents under his ultimate command. At the very least, in addition to judicial accountability for the victims, he and his Government owe the families of the victims and Nigerians in general a formal and unreserved apology for this tragic occurrence.

I offer my heartfelt condolences once again to the families of the deceased victims of the Lekki Massacre. October 20, 2020 was a day that will live in infamy in the history of Nigeria. May the blood of our youth shed by those whose duty it was to protect their lives not have been spilled in vain. May this kind of tragedy never happen again in our land.
November 16, 2021
Govt Should Invite Sunday Igboho, IPOB For Dialogue – Kingsley Moghalu
A former presidential candidate, Kingsley Moghalu, has urged the Federal Government to dialogue with secessionists and believes addressing the root causes of their agitations will help in dousing tensions in the West African nation.
Moghalu made the call on Wednesday when he featured on Channels Television’s breakfast show, Sunrise Daily, and believes secessionist agitators feel marginalised and are seeking justice.
“I think that the government should be able to invite, whether it is IPOB or Sunday Igboho, all the secessionists; invite them to the table,” the former Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) governor noted.
The Nigerian government had in 2017 proscribed the Indigenous Peoples of Biafra (IPOB), the group spearheading agitations for the creation of an independent Biafra nation but Moghalu has faulted the move, insisting instead, that the reasons for their actions should be looked into.
While he admitted that IPOB and other agitators may be addressing their challenges in a wrong way, he argued that tagging them as terrorists is not the way to tackle the issue.
“They are essentially political agitators. You can call them terrorists. That is your own prerogative but we know what terrorism means in reality. Boko Haram are terrorists. We know that,” the economist and lawyer added.
“When people begin political agitations and we very easily throw terrorism at them just because they are mouthing off and speaking in a language that nobody likes or insulting their fellow citizens. That is their way of handling this type of thing.
“Can we address the agitations? Don’t be afraid to address the core reasons behind the agitation because they are crying out for justice. They feel marginalised. What is wrong with addressing those issues?”
June 2, 2021