The Allied Congress Party Of Nigeria (ACPN) has abandoned its presidential candidate, Dr Obiageli Ezekwesili, and announced its endorsement of the re-election bid of President Muhammadu Buhari of the All Progressives Congress (APC)
This sudden change, the party said, was predicated on Dr Ezekwesili’s alleged use of her position in the party to negotiate for the position of finance minister without the knowledge of the party.
In yesterday’s press conference addressed by the party’s national chairman, Alhaji Gani Galadima, who also served as Ezekwesili’s running mate, the party accused her of not showing the necessary commitment to the presidential race.
The party ordered her to render account of all the donations she had received and to go a step further to return all the monies and the party’s property in her position, or face court action.
Galadima said: “She must return whatever money she collected from people on behalf of the party because whatever is given to her belongs to the party. And don’t forget that, at the end of the day, as a party, we must render account to INEC. This is mandatory; it is in the Electoral Act.
“We want to use this medium to tell her that we are not unaware of what was given to her, and of the various accounts that she herself and her personal aide have opened to generate funds.
“We are aware that monies were coming in, in droves, but we didn’t know the sources of these funds. She should please come and render account to us. She should come and give back to the party all that belongs to it, because without the party, nobody will give her any fund or donate anything to her.”
…Why I Stepped Down – Ex-minister
Meanwhile, Ezekwesili yesterday defended her withdrawal from the presidential race and described the allegations against her by her party, ACPN, as a figment of the party’s imagination.
The former minister of education, in a statement early yesterday morning, said she withdrew from the presidential race to help build a coalition to defeat the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) and the main opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the February 16, 2019 election.
Reacting to the allegations raised by her party chairman, Galadinma, on why she withdrew from the race, Ezekwesili’s media aide, Ozioma Ubabukoh, said, “Those allegations are a figment of Galadimma’s imagination. We realised that a coalition was indeed needed to defeat the #APCPDP and that was why Madam Oby sacrificed her ambition (in order) to build a coalition.”
In a statement issued by the spokesperson for the Obiageli Ezekwesili Presidential Campaign Organisation, Ozioma Ubabukoh, Ezekwesili was quoted as saying that her decision to withdraw from the race followed extensive discussions with Nigerians at home and abroad.
According to her, the action was also prompted by an examination of the country’s electoral environment following the 2019 presidential debate of Saturday, January 19, 2019.
She said: “This decision followed extensive consultations with leaders from various walks of life across the country over the past few days. I deem it necessary for me to focus on helping to build a veritable coalition to ensure a viable alternative to the #APCPDP in the forthcoming elections.
“It is my ardent belief that this broad coalition for a viable alternative has now become more than ever before an urgent mission for and on behalf of Nigerian citizens. I have therefore chosen to lead the way in demonstrating the much needed patriotic sacrifice for our national revival and redirection.
“I wish to state that over the past three months, I have been in private, but extended talks with other candidates to birth a coalition that would allow Nigerians to exercise their choice without feeling helplessly encumbered by the evil twins of #APCPDP.
“While the deliberations continued, I never hesitated for a moment in my willingness and determination to sacrifice my candidacy in order to facilitate the emergence of the envisaged strong and viable alternative that Nigerians could identify with in our collective search for a new beginning.
“My commitment to this promising political recalibration has been consistent and in consonance with my agreement, at the request of candidates under the Presidential Aspirants Coming Together (PACT) arrangement in 2018, when I consented to supervise the internal selection process as an outside observer passionate about building an alternative force.”
“However, despite resistance from the Allied Congress Party of Nigeria on these and other issues, I have decided that it is now necessary to show by action and example my determination on this issue by stepping down my candidacy so as to focus squarely on building the coalition to a logical conclusion.”
The former World Bank vice president for Africa and also former minister of solid minerals development in the Obasanjo administration further urged Nigerians not to despair over what the political class has now become, but to be “determined to ensure that the message keeps resonating that our beloved country deserves better, and that we will get the best that we deserve.”
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She added, “From last year, when I joined the presidential race, I made it clear to Nigerians that the country has always had a 20-year cycle of change – 1959, 1979 and 1999. As such, 2019 begins another 20-year cycle, and together with all Nigerians of good will, I stand ready to play my part to ensure that we do not miss this golden opportunity to sing a new song.
“There is no more time to waste. Let’s get to work!”
…Action Too Late, Says INEC
However, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has faulted Ekwesili’s withdrawal from the February 16, 2019 presidential election barely 22 days to the poll, describing it as a violation of its rules.
It was gathered that for a candidate to withdraw from the race, such a person must give the electoral umpire 45 days’ notice before the election.
But in Ezekwesili’s case, she announced her withdrawal on Twitter just 22 days to the election. Again, she did announced her decision through the social media instead of formally writing through to her party for onward transmission to INEC 45 days before the election.
Speaking on the issue, INEC chairman’s chief press secretary, Rotimi Oyekanmi, said that Ezekwesili violated the timetable and schedule of activities for the 2019 general elections as released by INEC on January 9, 2018 containing 14 activities.
“It is impossible for any presidential candidate to withdraw from the race now,” Oyekanmi said, referring to the candidate of the ACPN, Oby Ezekwesili.
“According to the Timetable and Schedule of Activities for the 2019 General Elections, the last day for withdrawal by candidates or replacement of withdrawn candidates by political parties was 17th November, 2018 for Presidential and National Assembly Elections. Therefore, the deadline for Ezekwesili or any candidate in that category to withdraw or be replaced has passed,” Oyekanmi said.
Appeal Court Affirms Duke As SDP Presidential Candidate
Also, the Abuja Division of the Court of Appeal yesterday declared former Cross Rivers State governor, Donald Duke, as the presidential candidate of the Social Democratic Party (SDP).
The court, in a unanimous judgement by a three-man panel of justices, vacated a judgement of the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory which directed INEC to recognise former minister of information, Professor Jerry Gana, as the presidential candidate of the SDP.
LEADERSHIP Friday recalls that both Duke and Gana had been embroiled in a conflict over which of them is the authentic candidate of the party in next month’s presidential poll. The appellate court has now ruled in Duke’s favour.
At the end of the party’s primary election conducted on October 6 last year, Duke polled 812 votes to beat Gana who garnered a total of 611 votes.
However, the high court, in a judgment that was delivered by Justice Hussein Baba-Yusuf of the FCT High Court on December 14, 2018, stripped Duke off the presidential ticket of the party and handed it to Gana.
The high court maintained that Duke’s emergence was in violation of a zoning arrangement the party adopted with a view to ensuring that the president and national chairman of the party do not emerge from the same geopolitical zone.
Consequently, the lower court voided all the votes that were ascribed to Duke on the premise that he is from the Southern part of the country the same as the incumbent national chairman of the party.
It declared Gana, the candidate from the Northern part of the country with the highest valid votes cast as the bona-fide presidential candidate of the SDP.
Dissatisfied with the judgement, both the SDP and Duke approached the appellate court to set it aside.
While delivering judgment on the matter yesterday, the appellate court upheld the argument of the appellants, stressing that the amended constitution of the party could not take retroactive effect.
The appellate court noted that though the said amended constitution was ratified and adopted at the national congress of the party on October 6, the document did not take effect till October 8 when it was duly transmitted to INEC.
It held that there was nothing in both the former and amended constitutions of the party that curtailed the right of any of its members to, at any time, vote or be voted for.
The appellate court described the high court judgement that handed the presidential ticket to Gana as “perverse and wrong”.
It held that the lower court’s verdict was a violation of Duke’s right to freedom from discrimination, adding that Gana was bound by an undertaking he signed to support any candidate that emerged from the presidential primary contest.
The appellate court further described the purported zoning formula as “a mere political arrangement” to help SDP win elections, saying it had nothing to do with the qualification of a candidate.
It held that Gana’s complaint was not that there was any violation of the Electoral Act, but that Duke, who is from the Southern part, was not qualified to contest the presidential election.
The appellate court therefore resolved all the issues against Gana and ordered him to pay N500, 000.00 cost to all the five appellants in the matter.
