…says running mate opposed to coalition, fighting for own interest
Former presidential candidate of Allied Congress Party of Nigeria (ACPN), Dr. Oby Ezekwesili, has put a lie to the claims of the party’s chairman and Vice Presidential candidate, Gani Galadima that the one-time Education Minister was using the party’s platform to negotiate for Minister of Finance in the next administration.
Speaking through the spokesperson of her presidential campaign organisation, Ozioma Ubabukoh, Ezekwesili debunked the claim that one of the party’s financier and Galadima’s benefactor,Iyinoluwa Aboyeji, confided in him (Galadima) that she was not serious about her ambition abnitio.
He said: “That is never true. She would not have gone to that extent if she was not serious about the election. People like Iyinoluwa Aboyeji, founder of Alder, would not have committed so much of his resources into her presidential ambition. “Mark Zuckerberg invested $4million in his company.
When you see such a guy, would he come and tell Galadima that she was looking for a ministerial appointment? That is not possible. It is the same Galadima that was begging for money. Iyinoluwa gave him money every week for his upkeep. He said he needed a car befitting his stature as a running mate.”
Also, he told Sunday Telegraph in an interview that Galadima had always opposed the Presidential Aspirants Coming Together (PACT) arrangement. He cited an instant during one of the coalition meeting sometime in December last year when Galadima allegedly voiced his opposition to the arrangement that he would no longer get what he had been getting should Ezekwesili dump ACPN for the coalition.
However, the parting of ways came after the presidential debate last week. According to her, the decision to dump ACPN came after the debate. Ubabukoh said, “After the Presidential debate, Madam told him that if Atiku Abubakar and President Muhammadu Buhari were to be voted out in the interest of Nigeria and Nigerians, they needed a Third Force to do that. “After the presidential debate, there were series of meetings conveyed by international bodies and all that. They said that all of them had brilliant ideas.
They were smart. Nigerians love you. But if you go solo, you would share your votes. “Even in House on the Rock Church, when they did a shadow election, Fela Durotoye, did not win. Some of them said they wanted Moghalu, others said Eby Ezekwesili, and Omoyele Sowore.
The international body used that as an example. They advised them to team up together to have a coalition and a candidate for the good of the country. She had to play the Big Sister’s role by stepping down.” On the accounts of the money that came in, Ubabikoh said his principal would address a press conference tomorrow (Monday) where she would attend to all the issues at stake and when the audited account would be made available.