THE issue concerning the debate and the reason why General Muhammadu Buhari is boycotting the debates has been well articulated by the party, the All Progressives Congress (APC).
As an individual, General Buhari cannot overlook the significance of debates. If not for anything else, he believes that debates help to stimulate thoughts and they also help in the process of galvanizing the people to make right choices.
All along in his political life, General Buhari had never shied away from debates. He participated in presidential debates during his previous contests for the presidency of this great country.
If anything, those who are making the noise about his decision to boycott the debate now are the ones who have never participated in previous presidential debates.
And I think rather than create so much noise about his decision to boycott a debate he had participated in the past; we need to ask our main opponent in this election why he so desperately wants General Buhari in a debate now, when in 2010 he jettisoned the invitation to participate in a similar presidential debate? We need to ask President Jonathan that question.
Now coming to your question, as a politician, General Buhari cannot overlook the significance of the people in a democratic process. As a candidate of the All Progressive Congress, you also cannot say that the APC will take any decision whatsoever that will show lack of respect for the people. As a matter of fact, any decision we take in this campaign has the people as focal point.
That is essentially the reason why we opted for a direct interaction with the people of Nigeria through town hall meetings all over the country. These meetings will afford Nigerians the needed opportunity to ask General Muhammadu Buhari and Professor Yemi Osinbajo questions directly. Such a process, you will agree with me, is more democratic and more impactful.
Again, you will agree with me that the solution to the challenges facing our people is not a one-shoe-fits-all. That is why our campaign decided to meet with Nigerians in their respective locations.
For instance, the solution to the problem of unemployment in the South-East may not be the solution to the same problem in the North-East. That is why we are going directly to the people, and to hear from them first-hand.
Vulnerable? I choose to take an exception to that word. But even at that, we all know that General Buhari participated in previous presidential debates. And if he says he is not comfortable to participate in the same debate at this point in time, I think it is more adequate to ask why he is boycotting an exercise he had participated in the past.
We have said it repeatedly that the PDP cannot be trusted in this election. We have intelligence that the PDP has moved in with filthy hands to compromise the integrity of the presidential debate at this point in time.
And why would anyone say that General Buhari cannot pull through some two hours of hot debate? Which do you think is more rigorous between three hours of serious, direct and real-time interaction with hundreds of professionals in several town hall meetings and a one-off presidential debate?
Yes, we do not have confidence in the neutrality of some parties to the NEDG, just a few of them actually. And you will agree with me that that is enough to compromise the integrity of the presidential debate. I do not understand what you mean by the APC not having confidence in General Muhammadu Buhari.
That cannot be correct. What is democracy about if not the people? And, in any case, we are not shying away from debates. What we have said is that we do not wish to participate in a particular template of debate, which is the one organised by the NEDG.
Rather, we have opted to do debates with Nigerians. We have met with the organised private sector in a kick-off of the town hall meeting in Lagos State. We have also had a similar interactive session in Kano. We are similarly having meetings with labour union leaders, students’ leadership and other important segments of the society.
I am sure you will not say that these people we have been meeting with are not competent enough to raise vital issues with our presidential candidate. It is true that our candidate has far bigger mass following than the PDP’s candidate, but we are not taking that for granted.
However, that is not by co-incidence. It is basically because our campaign and the issues we address such as security, unemployment, corruption, decaying infrastructure and poor management of the economy are issues that resonate well with the people.
Nigerians have more confidence in General Muhammadu Buhari (a confidence that has been confirmed by influential The Economist Magazine) to adequately address the challenges they face.
They have seen the cluelessness of the Goodluck Jonathan administration and that is why the message of change that General Buhari promises has better acceptance with the people.
Don’t let us mix the issues up. It is not that our campaign does not have confidence in the integrity of the mass media organisations, be it the NEDG or the NPAN.
The media has been a positive partner in the long-time effort to stabilize this democracy and nobody can take away the contribution and the capacity of the Nigeria media to serve as the fourth estate of the realm.
However, our fear has more to do with the corrupt machinations of the PDP to influence the embarrassment of General Muhammadu Buhari during the course of a presidential debate.
So therefore, we came to the conclusion that it is safer to avoid any presidential debate – not out of disrespect to the organisers of the debate, but as a way of avoiding a landmine planted by the PDP.
The INEC has a responsibility to prove to Nigerians that it has the credibility to conduct this election in a manner that the election will be seen as free, fair and transparent.
The INEC must live up to this responsibility and it is the responsibility of all stakeholders including Nigerians, whose destiny is at stake to be vigilant in ensuring that the electoral umpire delivers on its mandate.
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