By Ayo Kehinde
Wonders they say never end as officials of the Allied Congress Party of Nigeria, ACPN, have once again re-enacted that hackneyed saying by disowning their Presidential candidate, Dr Obiageli Ezekwesili, who early Thursday morning announced her withdrawal from the 2019 race. The party officials then went ahead to declare support for the candidacy of President Muhammadu Buhari of the All Progressives Congress, APC.
According to her Vice-Presidential candidate, Gani Galadima who together with the party National Secretary, Paul Isamade , Deputy National Chairman (South), Otunba Bosun Omosule and his counterpart for the North, Alhaji Ibrahim Goronyo.
and his counterpart for the North, Alhaji Ibrahim Goronyo, “The Allied Congress Party of Nigeria (ACPN) is withdrawing support for her presidential aspiration and endorsing the second term bid President Muhammadu Buhari to take Nigeria to the next level,” the party said in a statement on Thursday.
Mrs Ezekwesili who had given reasons for her stepping out of the race “ to organise a coalition against the two dominant parties, the APC and the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, had hinted that her former party resisted her decision.
But the party leaders who addressed the press in Abuja on Thursday said she acted alone with no consultation and alleged some financial impropriety against her. According to them in the statement, she was also alleged to be using her position as a bargaining chip for ministerial position in a future government after the poll
Galadima said: “I have been put into confidence by one of her aide named lyinoluwa Aboyeji that she only wanted to use the platform of the Allied Congress Party of Nigeria (ACPN) to negotiate to be Nigeria’s finance minister. Our presidential nomination ticket is N10 million and expression of interest is N500,000 but when she came she said she did not have money, that she only had N100,000 and because we wanted to encourage women, we gave her our platform,” Galadima said.
“We also seek this medium to inform our former presidential candidate Dr Ezekwesili to return to the party all the property in her possession especially the various donations that she has been receiving from all over the world.
“Whatever she had received belongs to the party and we must render account to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC). So, it is mandatory.
Isamade, said the party was aware of all the accounts she and her aides had opened for this election to which donations were made without informing the party.
“She showed us a piece of paper and said there was $5,000 in one account and then in another account, about N35million of which she had spent over N29million in local donations and that if we wanted her to transfer it to the party’s account right away, she would do so. That was over a month ago,” Isamade said.
