Kingsley Moghalu, former deputy governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and president of the Institute for Governance and Economic Transformation (IGET) has apologised to Nigerians and the members of the Obidient Movement.
On Thursday, the former presidential candidate of the Young Progressive Party (YPP) said Wole Soyinka is a principled fighter for justice and a phenomenon “that unlettered and uncultured people may not fully understand in an age of lazy social media in which many don’t read or think deeply”.
This statement followed a backlash on the Nobel Laureate for his comment on the vice presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP), Datti-Baba Ahmed over his stance against the swearing-in of Bola Ahmed Tinubu, president-elect on May 29.
Last month, Datti had advised President Muhammadu Buhari and the chief justice of Nigeria (CJN), Olukayode Ariwoola not to participate in the swearing of the Mr Tinubu because he didn’t satisfy the requirements of the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
Mr Moghalu in a tweet via his verified handle said he apologised for the words he used on Thursday.
He said the words can be misconstrued as a harsh judgment on citizens who were hurt by the outcome of the 2023 general elections.
“On a second thought, can be misconstrued as a harsh judgment on citizens who are hurting from the outcome of the elections. That was not my intention. While we all bear responsibility for the words we choose to use (and I have the utmost respect for Prof Soyinka and Dr. Datti-Ahmed), I caution again, however, that there will always be different voices with different beliefs in a democracy.
“These voices are NOT illegitimate simply because we disagree with them or they do not agree either with our political preferences or with whatever manner in which we choose to express our views. This applies across the board to the supporters of ALL the leading candidates.
“This is a difficult time for our country, but I hope we can still be civil and measured even as we may disagree”, he said.
