Former Nigerian Minister of Education, Oby Ezekwesili, has confirmed that she turned down the offer to run the same ticket with the then General Muhammadu Buhari during the 2011 general elections.
The confirmation came after Lagos-based preacher Tunde Bakare, who was the eventual running mate to Mr. Buhari in that election, said Ms. Ezekwesili rejected the offer to run alongside Mr. Buhari in 2011.
“Many People: Please tell us, is it true you actually rejected the offer to be Vice Presidential Candidate to Buhari as Pastor Bakare @T_Bakare said? Me: Yes it is true,” Mrs. Ezekwesili said in a tweet on Tuesday.
“I laughed at the many messages people sent me upon reading Bakare’s factual statement that I rejected running as VP with Buhari in 2011. I did not waste a moment in saying No.
“It is why I have always pitied those who spend their years lying against me. Next please!” she added.
It would be recalled that Mr. Buhari sought and contested but lost the 2011 presidential election as the candidate of the Congress for Progressive Change. The party was later amongst the legacy platforms, alongside ACN and ANPP, that became the APC in 2013.
Notwithstanding, the BringBackOurGirls campaigner supported Mr. Buhari to be president in 2015, but soon became his top critic and sought to run against him in 2019.
