By Ben Brooks
Former Deputy Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Prof. Kingsley Moghalu, has disowned his inclusion in the policy team of former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar ahead of the 2027 presidential election.
Moghalu, in a statement posted on his X handle on Thursday, said his name was listed without his knowledge or consent.
His reaction came hours after the Atiku Abubakar campaign and the African Democratic Congress (ADC) unveiled its Presidential Campaign Council for the 2027 elections, naming Moghalu as a member of its Policy Team. The team is chaired by economist and banker, Mohammed Hayatu-Deen, with Prof. Mohammed Sagagi as Deputy Chairman.
Moghalu said, “I am surprised to see a statement from @atiku and @ADCNig campaign team including my name as a member of former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar’s policy team for the 2027 presidential campaign.”
He added, “For the record: I was not consulted and did not give my consent to my name being published as a member of the ADC candidate’s policy team. I am NOT, in fact, a member of Atiku’s policy team, even unofficially or in any advisory capacity.”
The former presidential candidate of the Young Progressives Party (YPP) in the 2019 general election said he quit partisan politics in 2022 and has remained non-partisan.
“I have quit partisan politics in Nigeria since 2022. I have maintained, and continue to maintain, my non-partisan posture in our country’s national affairs. I am not a member or sympathiser of any political party in Nigeria,” he said.
Moghalu said his primary engagements are as President of the Institute for Governance and Economic Transformation (IGET Africa), a non-partisan public policy think-tank and executive education academy, and as Chief Executive Officer of Sogato Strategies, a geopolitical risk and regulatory strategy advisory firm.
He stressed that his commitment to Nigeria’s progress does not require partisan alignment, noting that he has “adopted the path of statesmanship, not partisanship.”
As of press time, the Atiku/ADC campaign team had yet to respond to Moghalu’s disclaimer.
Prof. Moghalu served as Deputy Governor of the CBN from 2009 to 2014 and was the presidential candidate of the YPP in the 2019 election.