Oby Ezekwesili picks ex-presidential candidate, party chairman as running mate

Oby Ezekwesili, the presidential candidate of the Allied Congress Party of Nigeria (ACPN), has named Ganiyu Galadima as her running ma...

Oby Ezekwesili, the presidential candidate of the Allied Congress Party of Nigeria (ACPN), has named Ganiyu Galadima as her running mate for the 2019 elections.

She revealed this while speaking at Kwara Hotel, Ilorin, Kwara state on Wednesday, stating that he was the kind of grassroot politician she needs to lift 80 million people out of poverty.

Galadima, who is the national chairman of the ACPN, contested the 2015 presidential election, where he garnered 40,311 votes to clinch the fourth position.

He was only behind the All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate, Muhammadu Buhari; Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate, Goodluck Jonathan; and Adebayo Ayeni of the African Peoples Alliance.

Speaking about her choice of a grassroot politician, Ezekwesili said Galadima will teach her to be a consummate politician.

"I am very delighted that my vice-presidential candidate, my colleague, the one that will embark on this very important fight for Naija, are you ready to fight for Naija?

"That I have a rugged grassroot fighter as the person who will supplement the things that I know. He will teach me how to be a consummate politician.

"Alhaji Abdulganiyu Galadima is definitely known for the work he has done at the grassroot level. As someone who started a strong career in local government, he is the kind of person I need, for us to lift 80 million people out of poverty.

"If we need competence, we can buy it; if we need capacity, we can buy it, but there is one thing we cannot buy, and that is character. For me, this gentleman represents that character."

She said Galadima has been in politics for so long but has refused to be assimilated into the politics of failure, maintaining his character in politics.