UNITED PROGRESSIVE PARTY (UPP)
NATIONAL SECRETARIAT, ABUJA
PRESS RELEASE
UPP Endorses Kingsley Muoghalu For President
Loading ...The leadership of the United Progressive Party (UPP) is delighted to
read that Prof. Kingsley Muoghalu addressed the media in Lagos to
announce his intention to contest for the President of Nigeria in the
forthcoming presidential election.
UPP wishes to commend him for his courage and noble intention. Prof.
Kingsley Muoghalu is eminently qualified and endowed with both the
intellectual capacity and international connections to undertake the
project of contesting to be Nigerian President in 2019.
He is within the age bracket preferred for such enormous national
project and sufficiently detribalized to take Nigeria to a greater
height. We believe that time is ripe for Nigerians to put forward a
President that the World Community will respect and be prepared to do
political business with. We believe also that Prof. Muoghalu will
bring tremendous value to bear on the contest for the 2019
presidential election.
With Prof. Muoghalu on the ballot for the 2019 presidential election
Nigerians will be presented with a credible alternative option.
Although Prof. Kingsley Muoghalu in his statement said that he is
still consulting widely, we in UPP do not hesitate to encourage him to
increase the tempo of his consultations. In the same token, without
any reservation, extend our hand of fellowship and collaboration to
the new entrant to the presidential race for the 2019 presidential
election.
We wish to recall that when the present leadership of UPP founded the
All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) in June 2002, the party
directed its presidential focus to the South East geopolitical Zone to
encourage eligible presidential aspirants from the zone to contest the
presidential election of 2003. The party took steps to offer the
platform to about 6 eminently qualified persons on the APGA platform
to contest the presidential election. But they declined the offer one
after the other on reasons that bothered on lack of courage. When it
was about two weeks to the close of nomination of presidential
candidates the leadership of the party practically conscripted the
late Dim Chukwuemeka Odumegwu-Ojukwu who was before that time a member
of the defunct All Nigerian Peoples Party (ANPP). It was by this
singular initiative of the party leadership that resulted in his
contesting the 2003 presidential election on the platform of APGA.
Unfortunately in subsequent presidential elections those who hijacked
the party through several conspiracies decided to reward the sponsors
of the crisis in APGA by adopting the presidential candidate of the
Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in 2011 and 2015 presidential elections
contrary to the original vision and policy directive of the founding
fathers of the party.
In 2012, the United Progressive Party (UPP) was founded to among other
things, promote the vision of encouraging qualified and credible
presidential aspirants from the South East geopolitical zone to have
the opportunity of presenting themselves to Nigerian people as
presidential candidate.
Unfortunately, the 2003 scenario re-enacted itself when nobody from
the South East geopolitical zone summoned the courage to contest for
the presidency of Nigeria. In that circumstance the National
Executive Committee (NEC) of the party unanimously presented the
National Chairman, Chief Dr. Chekwas Okorie and the then National
Secretary, Barrister Bello Umar to contest for President and Vice
President respectively. Their nominations were ratified by the
National Convention of the party at Aba, Abia State in December 2014.
In June 2017, in a well-attended non-elective National Convention of
the party held at Awka, Anambra State, the party reaffirmed its policy
of seeking for a credible presidential candidate from the South East
geopolitical zone. The party, UPP, similarly ratified its updated
manifesto which included the Self Determination of Nigerian Ethnic
Nationalities, Restructuring, Referendum, Unconditional Release of
Prisoners of Conscience, Resource Control, State Police/Community
Policing, and True Federalism.
It is therefore a thing of joy to see a highly qualified and credible
Nigerian in the person of Prof. Kingsley Muoghalu stepping forward to
be counted.
We are receptive to collaborating with other political parties that
are similarly inclined like the UPP to give Prof. Kingsley Muoghalu
the necessary boost and encouragement to march forward to contest for
the office of President of Nigeria in 2019.
IN PROF. KINGSLEY MUOGHALU, NIGERIANS HAVE A CREDIBLE ALTERNATIVE OPTION.
CHIEF DR. CHEKWAS OKORIE
NATIONAL CHAIRMAN, UPP
