2023: No Difference Between APC, PDP Says Monye

*ADC presidential hopeful wants national debate with Atiku, Tinubu

*Applauds assenting of Electoral Act 2022

Omon-Julius Onabu in Asaba
Presidential aspirant in next year’s election in Nigeria, Mr. Chukwuka Monye, has described the difference between the All Progressives Congress (APC) and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) as akin to the difference between six and half a dozen, saying that only a clean break with the two leading political parties by Nigerians could usher in a reviving surge of fresh air towards the country’s transformation.

Monye stated this yesterday in Asaba, Delta State, while formally announcing his membership of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), which he described as “a political organisation where ideas rule” that could engender national unity as well as restore the dignity of Nigeria and Nigerians for sustainable economic growth and development.

The 42-year old Oxford University-trained innovation strategist and management consultant, dismissed any suggestion that the presence old former public office holders like Atiku Abubakar and Bola Tinubu, who are regarded as moneybags today, would affect his chances in 2023 because of the predominance of money politics in Nigeria, expressing optimism that 2023 would sweep the so-called Nigeria political moneybags away for good.

He pointed out that his decision to join the ADC, which he stressed has distinct alternative features to those of the currently big parties, APC and the PDP, was based on painstaking consideration of many critical national issues also agitating the minds of well-meaning Nigerians who desired to see “a Nigeria of our dream” where every citizen is able to fulfill their potential irrespective of their social or cultural status, religious affiliation or gender.

He enumerated several reasons for settling for the party to actualize his presidential ambition in 2023, noting that the ADC with presence in at least 95 percent of the 774 local government areas in Nigeria, is the “third force” that Nigeria required to move out of the woods and into the new country envisaged by all well-meaning citizens.

Monye said, “Prior to announcing my intention to run for President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria on the 15th of January, 2022, I consulted with many people: young, old, professionals, informal workers, Christians, Muslims and people of different ethnic backgrounds. As expected, I received mixed reactions, with some people excited about the prospect for a better Nigeria and others who felt that there is simply no hope for Nigeria.

“After extensive and intense consultations across various parties and groups, and considering the reasons above that I have mentioned today, I am pleased to formally announce my membership of the African Democratic Congress (ADC).”

Due to the generally fixated approach to governance by the PDP and APC, the country is at the brink of collapse with institutions such as law and justice, education, the security infrastructure and healthcare being unable to effectively meet the needs of Nigerians, Monye lamented.

Nigeria must be re-engineered on the path of social order, excellence and people oriented economic policies and programmes so that the country can truly assume its deserved place as the African leader, instead of the country with more than 83 million citizens living below the global poverty level, he stressed.

“We must re-organise our security systems and our institutions in order to create the environment that will lead to job creation and poverty alleviation”, Monye further said, adding, “I represent a generation that desires opportunities to express their innovative capacities.

Specifically, he promised to tackle the numerous economic, social and political challenges bedeviling the country through a tripartite development agenda targeting security challenges, reformation of key institutions including law enforcement and justice, qualitative education as well as healthcare delivery.

He said that job creation and expansion of different aspects of agriculture will also receive priority attention with him as Nigeria’s president come 2023, adding that he has continued to visit different parts of the country to actualize the dream of uniting the country through promotion of “competence and inclusivity”.

On the challenge of influence of money on elections in Nigeria, Monye said that throwing money at problems could never solve such problems without the right things being put in place, dismissing insinuations that only moneybags and ethnic champions could win elections in Nigeria.

He said that he was offering competence, integrity and decades of experience in successfully resuscitating failed or failing public and private institutions in Africa and other parts of the world through innovation and entrepreneurial mentorship, saying that he was prepared for a national debate featuring supposed moneybag presidential aspirants like former vice-president Atiku Abubakar and former Lagos State governor, Bola Tinubu.

“If just throwing money solved problems, we would have solved all our problems before today. Clearly, there is something missing, it is not about just throwing money at problems. We need competent hands, people with ideas, people with strategies, people with capacities to take Nigeria to the next level.

“I look forward to a general election that has different people with different capacities. It is a democracy, the Important thing is to be available for Nigerians to make a choice, to be available to engage when the opportunity comes.

“I look forward to having a national debate with some of those persons you have mentioned (Atiku, Tinubu). There is no problem with that and, after that, we let Nigerians decide.”

On the presidential assent to the Electoral Act 2022, Monye said,

“I think that the news actually deserves a round of applause; and, I want to thank our president for assenting to this bill. I also want to congratulate Nigerians because I believe strongly that his assenting the Electoral Bill is actually the beginning of this journey to a new Nigeria.”

He also urged the people to recognize and commend relatively new and young politicians who had contested for the presidency in the past but who were considered not to have performed well, saying that such new politicians have actually played a significant role in Nigeria’s democratic progress.

“I think that they have a role that they have played that we have to recognize and commend.”

In his remarks, the National Chairman of the ADC, Chief Ralph Okey Nwosu, noted that Chukwuka Monye had all the intellectual and personal qualities, energy, clout and carriage that will enable him hold his own as president among presidents and leaders of even the advanced countries of the world.

Nwosu urged Nigerians to “step out of our mental frame” that has kept the nation down for so long such that the country has become statistically the poverty capital of the world ravaged by insecurity.

He was flanked by ADC’s national youth leader, Maurice Ebam, national vice-chairman (South-South), Festus Igbinedion, deputy national chairman (Diaspora), Kenneth Gbandi and Delta State chairman, Joe Chukwu as well an upcoming leader from northern Nigeria and close associate of the aspirant, Nuhu Cheshi.