*** He’s trying to evade questions about his criminal history, says journalist
*** Arise TV has evil plans for Tinubu, says Shagari’s grandson
The All Progressives Congress (APC) presidential flagbearer, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, remains the only candidate yet to attend any public debate as he seeks for votes ahead of the 2023 general elections. Several analysts expressed divergent views on why the APC candidate is avoiding presidential debates in Nigeria.
This follows similar patterns exhibited by current president Muhammadu Buhari after he was nominated as the APC candidate in 2014 and also in 2019. Buhari’s team repeatedly maintained that he would not attend any debate because of the publication of some “hate documentaries” by media stations during the 2014/2015 election cycle.
Checks by QUEST TIMES reveal that other leading presidential candidates: Alhaji Atiku Abubakar (Peoples Democratic Party, PDP), Mr Peter Obi (Labour Party, LP), Engineer Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso (New Nigeria Peoples Party, NNPP), and Omoyele Sowore (African Action Congress, AAC) have all attended at least one debate or Town Hall meeting during this election season.
Tinubu remains the only one among the leading presidential candidates that missed the series of Presidential Town Hall meetings organized by Arise TV ahead of the 2023 elections which have led to several verbal exchanges between the management of the station and the presidential candidate.
The APC candidate’s official explanation for this is that Tinubu has the right to adopt his “own strategies for reaching out to and interacting with Nigerians.”
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In a response by Nduka Obaigbena, Arise TV’s Editor-in-Chief, he challenged Tinubu’s campaign to present their candidate for debates and town hall meetings for the electorate to interrogate his proposed policies and programmes and make informed choices on who should lead them in the 2023 election.
This was a response to an earlier statement jointly signed by the Director of Media and Publicity of the APC PCC, Bayo Onanuga, and the Director, Strategic Communication, Dele Alake on behalf of the Tinubu’s 2023 campaign. In the statement, Onanuga and Alake described Obaigbena as having “the temerity to pretend to be a guardian of public morality in contemporary Nigerian media practice.”
Analysts say Buhari’s situation in 2014 is not the same as Tinubu’s now. One analyst who spoke from Lagos said “Unlike Buhari in 2014, there have been no ‘hate documentaries’ against Tinubu to have necessitated him avoiding debates.”
An independent journalist, David Hundeyin, shared his views on why Tinubu is avoiding public debates. He said the APC candidate is simply afraid of his shadows because of his shady academic records and drug history. According to Hundeyin, the APC candidate was guilty of “forgery, stating that his degree from Chicago State University was sourced from an online forgery service http://diploma-makers.com.”
Harry Iwuala, a public affairs analyst, says Tinubu is simply adopting the same pattern as Buhari to avoid debates in 2014. According to him, the situation turned out to be disastrous. He tweeted “Na so we used all armoury to shield Buhari in 2014-15 but we know what it has turned out. Sophistry! Town Hall, town hall, let him even appear on NTA, Wetin una dey hide? Chatham House of delegated response? Haba!”
Temisan Okomi, a Lagos-based journalist and presenter with two popular radio stations – Classic 93.7 FM and Lagos Talks thinks those making a fuss about Tinubu missing out on presidential debates were never going to vote for him regardless. He said “You’re not voting for him. Why do you want him to talk to you? We who will vote for him are cool with him. Vote for the person that is talking to Arise TV & leave Tinubu. If he loses, he loses.”
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Bello Shagari, a former president of the National Youth Council of Nigeria (NYCN), said it is probable that Arise TV may have plans to embarrass the APC presidential candidate through a debate. He tweeted “It is obvious that Arise TV has evil plans for Bola Tinubu.” Bello, who is the Nigerian representative of the Non-Aligned Movement Youth Organization (NAMYO) said there was “no way he should make himself available to them. You don’t jump into the den of thieves and expect not to be robbed, no matter how smart or strong you are.” Bello, a grandson of former Nigerian President, Shehu Shagari (1979-1983), believes that the APC candidate need not attend the presidential debate to win.
In response to Shagari, Ezugwu Ikenna says no one compelled Tinubu to attend Arise TV’s programme. Ikenna said Arise is not the only media outlet as Tinubu also missed other related programmes like THE CANDIDATES organized by Kadaria Ahmed where Tinubu was scheduled to present his case on December 8.
According to him, “He must not attend Arise TV town hall meeting, he owns TVC let him attend the one organized by them. A self-acclaimed accountant is afraid of having a live interview. Something must be fishy.”
Some analysts have wondered how a major presidential candidate like Tinubu ignores domestic media in a country he intends to govern by not attending public debates.
For the 2023 polls, Nigerians are anxious to know what the APC candidate has to offer differently or in addition to the existing trajectory.