The Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC has turned down the withdrawal request of the Presidential Candidate of ACPN, Obiageli Ezekwesili.
According to the electoral body, Mrs Ezekwesili’s decision is in contradiction with the Electoral Act which stipulates that a candidate would only withdraw from the race no less that 45 days to the date of elections.
The spokesperson of INEC chairman, Rotimi Oyekanmi, stated that, “It is impossible for any presidential candidate to withdraw from the race now.
“Therefore, the deadline for Ezekwesili or any candidate in that category to withdraw or be replaced has passed,” he said.
DAILY NIGERIAN reports that Mrs Ezekwesili had announced her withdrawal from the February 16 presidential election race on Thursday morning, saying that decision became necessary after due consultations with well-meaning Nigerians both at home and in the diaspora.
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However, at a news conference on Thursday in Abuja, leaders of the ACPN said Mrs Ezekwesili never consulted with the party before announcing her withdrawal from the race.
The party, therefore, declared its support for the candidature of Mr Buhari.
According to the party, Mrs Ezekwesili’s announcement was not surprising, as she only pre-empted the party’s decision to support another presidential candidate.
“She only pre-empted the decision we would have reached today which was to withdraw her candidacy and give to somebody else. 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.
“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. We have been put into confidence by several of her aides, one of which is named lyinoluwa Aboyeji also known as Maureen, that she only wanted to use the platform of the ACPN to negotiate to be Nigeria’s Finance Minister. This she did not deem fit to inform the party whose mandate she is holding.
“If you will observe, Dr. Oby Ezekwesili is the only presidential candidate who was so militant in her campaign without any tangible thing on the ground to indicate any seriousness in the prosecution of her campaign. No campaign secretariat, billboard or great commitment on the 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. 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. We are aware of all the accounts she and her aides had opened for this election to which donations were made.”
