Ezekwesili: We Raised N48.9m, $17,645, £200 for My Campaign

Former presidential candidate of the Allied Congress Party of Nigeria (ACPN), Dr. Oby Ezekwesili, has retired her campaign funds, accounting for “every penny” spent.

The former vice-president of the World Bank, in a detailed breakdown of income and expenditure, said the campaign raised N48,957,416.00, $ 17,645.00, and £200, from October 1, 2018 to February 2, 2019.

She also revealed that her campaign spent over N12 million on travels, N10.6 million on media and publicity, and another N15.3 million on “campaign mobilisation fees, meeting and logistics costs.”

In total, her campaign, according to TheCable, spent N46,521,806.19 in running its activities for the 2019 presidential campaign, which was aborted about a month to the eventual poll.

The spokesperson of the Obiageli Ezekwesili Presidential Campaign Organisation, Ozioma Ubabukoh, said via a press statement that she withdrew from the race to build a veritable coalition.

“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 APC and PDP in the forthcoming elections,” Ubabukoh had said.

The ACPN, on the other hand, said the former minister of education, and former vice-president of the World Bank, was only seeking to be finance minister — and never took her campaign seriously.

“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,” Ganiyu Galadima, Ezekwesili’s running mate and ACPN chairman, said.

Ezekwesili said she regrets joining the party, adding that she thought they shared the same values she holds dearly.

After her exit, the party went on to endorse incumbent President Muhammadu Buhari for a second term.