The All Progressives Congress (APC) Campaign Council has revealed reasons why its presidential candidate, Bola Tinubu, was absent at a live presidential debate held at the Transcorp Hilton in Abuja.
The campaign council’s clarification is coming in the wake of Tinubu’s absence at the event organised by the Centre for Democracy and Development (CDD) in collaboration with Arise TV.
Quest Times had earlier reported that Bola Tinubu of the APC and his counterpart in the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar, ducked the town-hall session.
Atiku who was said to be on his way from Morocco at the time, was, however, represented by his running mate, Governor Ifeanyi Okowa of Delta.
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Reacting, Festus Keyamo, the Director, Public Affairs and Spokesperson, Tinubu/Shettima Presidential Campaign Council in a statement on Sunday, said his principal is busy at the moment, hence, the reason for his absence.
The full statement below;
“The APC Presidential Candidate in the forthcoming 2023 Presidential Election, ASIWAJU BOLA AHMED TINUBU, did not attend the Presidential Debate organised by ARISE TV on Sunday, November 6, 2022, for the following reasons:
“Firstly, many radio and TV networks in Nigeria have indicated interests to host such debates and out of deference to other TV and radio stations, our candidate will not be making selective appearances in some networks, whilst ignoring others.
“As President of Nigeria, by the Special Grace of God, he intends to treat all persons and businesses fairly and equally.
“Secondly, the busy and hectic campaign schedules of Asiwaju Tinubu will not permit him to honour all such invitations by different radio and TV networks, hence our decision for him not to start with one TV station and later ignore others.
“Thirdly, our candidate had long before now realised the importance of speaking directly to Nigerians and shortly after unfolding his Action Plan as President embarked on Town Hall meetings beginning with his interaction with the Business Community and other stakeholders in Kano followed by the Town Hall meeting and presentation by experts last week in Lagos. Tomorrow, he will be interacting with Agro and Commodity Groups in Minna, Niger.
“Whilst we thank Arise TV for the invitation, we want to assure Nigerians that we shall continue to hold these debate groups and Nigerians in high esteem. Nigerians will hear from our candidate loud and clear through other forums.
“Lastly, out of profound respect for Nigerians, we urge all our party structures and supporters at the grassroots to continue to organise town hall meetings to educate Nigerians on the Action Plan of our candidate as we believe a grassroots approach to reach Nigerians will also be more profound.”