Ezekwesili, who formally declared she was running for the office of President of Nigeria on October 7, 2018, announced in a statement that she was stepping aside in order “to focus on helping to build a veritable coalition to ensure a viable alternative to the #APCPDP in the forthcoming elections.”

She also said she took the decision to terminate her presidential dream this year following “extensive consultations with leaders from various walks of life across the country over the past few days”.

Ezekwesili’s political party, Allied Congress Party of Nigeria (ACPN), has disowned her; while asking her to return all the monies donated to her campaign. 

“The Allied Congress Party of Nigeria ACPN is withdrawing support for Ezekwesili's presidential aspiration and endorsing the second term bid of President Muhammadu Buhari to take Nigeria to the next level”, the party said in the statement, adding that Ezekwesili withdrew from the race as a pre-emptive move because the party was going to dump her, anyway.  

“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”, the party declared.

National Secretary of ACPN, Chief Paul Isamede, said Ezekwesili when confronted on why she was using the platform to raise money, "showed us a piece of paper and said there was $5000 in one account and then in another account, about N35 million in local donations and that if we wanted her to transfer it to the party’s account right away, she would do so. That was over a month ago”.

In a press statement sent to Pulse, spokesperson for the Obiageli Ezekwesili Presidential Campaign Organisation, Ozioma Ubabukoh, said “every money donated to the campaign and funds spent will be accounted for in the coming days.”

Ezekwesili supervised the Presidential Aspirants Coming Together (PACT) election of August 30, 2018. 

The PACT election produced Fela Durotoye of the ANN as consensus candidate and left a couple other aspirants, notably Kingsley Moghalu of the YPP, aggrieved.