• Thursday, March 28, 2024
businessday logo

BusinessDay

Ezekwesili and ACPN: An inconvenient marriage?

Oby Ezekwesili

The sudden withdrawal of Obiageli Ezekwesili, who was a candidate of the Allied Congress Party of Nigeria (ACPN) from the 2019 presidential race, has continued to generate ripples in the polity.

Ezekwesili, who was a former Minister of education and later Minister of Solid minerals under the Olusegun Obasanjo administration was born in April 28, 1963.

A chartered accountant from Anambra state, married to a Pastor, Nedu Ezekwesili, of the Redeemed Christian Church of God.

She co-founded Transparency International (TI), serving as one of the pioneer directors of the global anti-corruption body, also occupied the position of the vice-president of the World Bank Africa division.

In 2008 she was nominee for the Nobel peace prize for her work in transparency in the extractive sector.

However, to some political observers in Nigeria, Ezekwesili’s withdrawal from the presidential race though shocking, her decision to contest for the nation top job was rather unexpected.

It would be recalled that weeks before announcing her decision to vie for the nation’s top job, she had presided over an election of presidential aspirants, under the auspices of Presidential Aspirant Coming Together (PACT).

Fela Durotoye, a management expert and the candidate of Alliance for New Nigeria (ANN), had emerged from the consensus election defeating the likes of Kingsley Moghalu of Young Progressives Party (YPP) and Omoyele Sowore of African Action Congress (AAN).

But weeks after presiding over the PACT election, Ezekwesili dazed the nation by announcing her entrance into the presidential race.

In her manifesto she had promised to lift over 80 million Nigerians out of poverty, prioritising human capital development, restructuring the country and diversifying the economy of the country.

“The excessive powers of the Federal Government are partially responsible for the stunted growth and poverty of the states and regions. We shall lead an economic-based dialogue for correcting the structural imbalance that has hobbled the regions and states and created the failure of our fiscal federalism in its practice. The failure of the power sector is the clearest proof of what can happen when the Federal Government refuses to let go of its control,” she said.

According to her, “This failure is responsible for the situation where 190 million Nigerians manage about 3,500 megawatts of power, whereas, South Africa with 50 million people generates in excess of 50,000 megawatts. How can a nation be productive without access to energy. We need complete and true deregulation of the sector. We can lift many of our citizens out of poverty by filling the infrastructure gaps. It is not enough for the fuel subsidy to go. Our government will also deregulate the entire oil sector”.

However, her decision to pull out of the race, less than a month to the presidential election came as a shock to Nigerians.

In a statement, Ezekwesili said she was withdrawing from the race to help build a coalition to defeat the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) and the main opposition People’s Democratic Party (PDP) in the forthcoming general election.

According to her, “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,” she said.

“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

“We have no right to allow citizens give in to despair. We will Fight for Nigeria together and prove to all that the mess, which the political class has now become, should not be allowed to destroy our spirits and nation. We are also determined to ensure that the message keeps resonating that our beloved country deserves better, and that we will get the best that we deserve.”
“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 – 1958, 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.

However, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) subsequently rejected her withdrawal, the commission said the 45 days to election deadline for candidates to pull out of the race, as enshrined in the 2015 Electoral Act, has elapsed.

INEC further stated that withdrawal of a candidate from election has been spelt out in Part 4, section 35 of the Electoral Act, as amended.

INEC Chairman, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, noted that Ezekwesili should have withdrawn from the race in November.

“It is impossible for any presidential candidate to withdraw from the race now, the deadline for Ezekwesili, or any candidate in that category, to withdraw, or be replaced, has passed,”

Meanwhile, some hours after Ezekwesili announced her decision to pull-out of the presidential race, the ACPN subsequently adopted incumbent President Muhammadu Buhari as its candidate for the election.

The party expressed its displeasure over her decision, while accusing her of failing to account for several large sums of money donated for her presidential campaigns.

National chairman of the ACPN, Abdulganiyu Galadima, who incidentally was her running mate, in an interview with journalists, stated that the party would fight and seek a refund of all funds donated to her for the presidential campaigns.

“We would get back all our money donated to her for the campaigns; right now all the promises she made that she would refund some money to the party account have not been fulfilled. We know she collected money donated to her and she opened several accounts for that.

“As I am talking to you INEC has given us a form that that we should disclose all the sources of funding for the campaign in this election and we have to disclose them.”

However, in spite of the controversy that have trailed her withdrawal from the presidential race, pundits have applauded her courage to enter into a race where few women have dared.

National President of Voters Awareness Initiatives, Wale Ogunade, while applauding her courage, urged women to be more strategy in seeking elective positions.

“It is good the heat is on her now, the men would be separated from the boys, it is only in Nigeria that everybody wants to become president. Having structure is very important, you must be on ground, and you must have followers, not admirers

“That is the problem with many politicians, they have admirer not followers. Does she have structure across the country to win her presidential election?

“Coalition is good, politicians should learn to put down their ego and join a coalition when they know their chances are slim. But we must give it to her for her to challenge the incumbent and give women a voice”.

Also the former chairman of the Lagos State branch of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), urged Nigerians to contest for lesser position which according to him, they could make more impact in the society.

“It is a good development that she contested and campaigned to test the waters, it helped to put issues in the front burner and challenge the existing status. But I am one of those who believe is not every good candidate that should be President and governor.

“That is not only the position; we need more people in sensitive positions, like the Senate and House of Representatives, instead of this position.

“I believe she can rally round to get more support, I equally believe in young people taking over, but as we can see young people lacks grassroots structures and other factors are there”.

Iniobong Iwok