On January 31, Soyinka made it clear he won’t be voting for either of Muhammadu Buhari of the APC or Atiku Abubakar of the PDP—the frontline candidates ahead of the vote--in the upcoming election. 

“For a number of reasons which I will not go into here, I’m not interested in a comparative assessment. My position is simply that it is time for a totally new direction. And obviously, I’m not the only one, as I’m speaking, there is a coalition having its meeting in Lagos from which they hope to produce a consensus candidate.

“There is another group meeting in Abuja, also at the end would send us their consensus candidate. Things have been going on quietly in the background to try and change the direction of this nation in a very positive way and to make the public understand that they do not have to be enslaved permanently to the old discredited order. It is my sole business in this election”, Soyinka had said.

On Friday, February 8, 2019, Soyinka said because “The nation has been brought to her knees”, getting behind someone who is not a part of the nation’s tainted establishment, is the surest way out.

“Let me reiterate: there is over-abundant, but stifled leadership material, and there can be no excuse, now that that potential of high quality is being manifested, for constricting the political space in a population that is nudging two hundred million.

"And that statement is of course specially addressed to those who took part in this exercise, those who deliberately opted out of it, some of whom were assessed anyway. 

“Such potential compelled us to exercise utmost rigour in what proved to be a most daunting exercise. The final determination however is – the flag-bearer of the Young Progressive Party – KINGSLEY MOGHALU.

“I shall conclude with a somewhat interesting aside. I met Moghalu again on Monday morning, February 4th, and informed him of the forum’s decision. During our discussion, I happened to ask him – what is the meaning of Moghalu. I was curious, because it had taken quite some time along the way for me to know to which ethnic group the name belonged. He replied, it means – “Evil Spirit, Leave me Be!”

"Then I asked him for his other names and he spelt them out: “Actually my full names are Kingsley Chiedu Ayodele Moghalu”. Eyebrows raised, I asked, How come, Ayodele? A piquant revelation resulted: “Oh, that came from Mrs. Funmilayo Ransome-Kuti. She was friends with my father. Mrs. Kuti was my godmother, and she gave me the name Ayodele”.

“I was learning this for the first time. Moghalu’s CV is however in the public domain – his publications, record, and vision. The above is just a side-note that contains its own mild, thought provoking instruction, for those who care to examine the distractions of ethnic equivocations, and the rigid mind-sets and stereotypes imposed on products of circumstance.

“That immediate task being now completed, Citizen Forum will now join forces with those who pray, “Evil Spirit, leave us be!” – at least those who subscribe to the belief that political elections are not a Do-or-Die Affair!”

A previous consensus election held under the banner of PACT—Presidential Aspirants Coming Together—produced Fela Durotoye of the ANN as consensus candidate.

Moghalu walked out of the coalition after Durotoye’s emergence, saying the process had been rigged and was in no way transparent. 

Only recently, Moghalu explained that he rejected the outcome of the PACT election because “a small clique, made up mainly of members of the ANN party, were running the show; driving it to a pre-determined bus stop and keeping others in the dark.

“When I realized that PACT was a charade I simply quit and as mentioned already still on the grounds of what was agreed and signed in the contract. As we all know even in real elections, candidates can reject the results and go to court at the END of the whole process if they believe they have legal or principled grounds to do so”.

Moghalu is one of 72 presidential candidates angling for President Buhari’s job. 

A former Deputy Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Moghalu, 56, has tailored his campaign to appeal to younger and middle class voters.