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Barely three hours after the Dr. Oby Ezekwesili of the Allied Congress Party of Nigeria (ACPN) withdrew from the 2019 presidential race, his running mate, Alhaji Gani Galadima, has endorsed President Muhammadu Buhari ahead of the February 16 election.
Addressing a press conference on Thursday morning, Galadima, who is also the national chairman of the ACPN, alleged that Ezekwesili entered the preseidential race with the aim of using the opportunity to negotiate for the position of Minister of Finance in the next administration.
A statement issued by the party, signed by Galadima and the party’s secretary, Chief Paul Isamade, read:
The reason for calling this press conference is to let the world know about the presidential aspiration of Dr. Oby Ezekwesili, which in actual fact, is not the truth. I have been put into confidence by one of her aide named Iyinoluwa Aboyeji that she only wanted to use the platform of the ACPN to negotiate to be Nigeria’s finance minister.
“This she does not deem fit to inform the party whose mandate she is holding. If you observe, Dr. Oby Ezekwesili is the only presidential candidate who was so militant in her campaign without any tangible thing on ground to indicate any seriousness in the prosecution of her campaign.
“No campaign secretariat, billboard or great commitment on ground to indicate any seriousness. It is on this ground that the ACPN is withdrawing support for her presidential aspiration and endorsing the second term bid of President Muhammadu Buhari to take Nigeria to the next level.”