*Peter Obi, Kwankwaso, Kola Abiola, Okowa attend debate
*Aggrieved youths protest against Okowa’s presence
*Why Tinubu was absent from debate -Keyamo
*Internet users fault Tinubu, Atiku
The presidential candidates of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), Bola Tinubu and that of opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar, were conspicuously absent at the presidential town hall meeting on Sunday evening in Abuja
The event was organized by Arise TV and the Centre for Democracy and Development (CDD).
Atiku was represented at the event by his running mate and Delta State Governor Ifeanyi Okowa while there was no representation for Tinubu.
But some members of the audience protested against the presence of Okowa, saying that only the presidential candidates should be allowed to take part in the debate.
There was a mild drama when some youths kicked against the presence of Okowa and insisted that only presidential candidates should be given the floor.
“We want only Presidential Candidates here,” they shouted on top of their voices as they booed the Delta governor.
But Okowa, who was calm during the protest, told the aggrieved youths that the presidential ticket is one while the youths said, “No!!!”
The organizers later restored normalcy while the programme commenced behind schedule.
The organisers further disclosed that Atiku had communicated his absence to them and they had agreed that he should be represented by his running mate.
The organizers also replaced Tinubu with another presidential candidate- Kola Abiola, the presidential candidate of the Peoples Redemption Party (PRP).
Two other presidential candidates invited for the debate, Peter Obi of the Labour Party (LP) and Rabiu Kwankwaso of the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP), attended the debate.
According to the organizers, the four candidates were selected, based on the performance of their parties in an online survey in which all the 18 political parties were listed in alphabetical order.
The CDD also disclosed in a statement made available last night that after the survey was closed, nine parties did not receive a single vote.
It added that the remaining nine political parties received the following percentage of votes- African Action Congress (AAC) – 20.7%, All Progressives Congress (APC) – 86.2%, All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) – 6.9%, Labour Party (LP) – 96.6%, New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP) – 51.7%, Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) – 82.8%, Peoples Redemption Party (PRP) – 6.9%, Social Democratic Party (SDP) – 6.9% and Young Progressive Party (YPP) – 13.8%.
The organizers further disclosed that the results of the survey prompted their decision to invite the highest four scoring parties – LP, APC, PDP and NNPP to the town hall meeting.
But a few hours before the event, Tinubu was replaced with Kola Abiola of the PRP who was present at the event.
Incidentally, the moderator of the event, Dr Reuben Abati, announced that Atiku was on his way back from Morocco and had communicated with the organisers to let Okowa represent him. Abati did not also say anything about Tinubu’s absence from the event.
The organisers also did not state why the APC candidate was not present or represented at the event while they did not also explain how Abiola was picked as a replacement since his party was not among the five leading parties at the survey poll.
It is instructive to note that the fifth position was won by the African Action Congress (AAC) while its candidate, Omoyele Sowore, had complained about his exclusion from the debate.
In a related development, Tinubu, and his running mate, Senator Kashim Shettima have cited hectic campaign schedules and resolve not to give any Television station preference among others as major reasons for their absence at Sunday’s town hall meeting of presidential candidates in Abuja.
In a statement made available to TheIdeal last night, the Director, Public Affairs and Spokespersons, Tinubu/Shettima Presidential Campaign Council, Mr Festus Keyamo (SAN) stated that Tinubu was unable to attend the debate 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 (Monday), he will be interacting with Agro and Commodity Groups in Minna, Niger State.
“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.”
Meanwhile, internet users have condemned the absence of Tinubu and Atiku from the Town Hall meeting in Abuja.
It is important to note that Tinubu and Atiku have been absent at events organized for presidential candidates.
In August, Shettima stood in for Tinubu at the NBA Annual General conference at Eko Hotels, Victoria Island, Lagos State while Atiku attended the event .
Shettima also represented Tinubu at the signing of peace accord event by the Gen Abdulsalami Abubakar-led National Peace Accord event in Abuja while Atiku was present at the event.
Shettima also represented Tinubu at an event organised in October by Women Radio 91.7 for major presidential candidates at the NAF Conference Centre, Abuja while Atiku was absent from the Women Radio event.
But Twitter users have criticized Tinubu and Atiku’s absence from Sunday’s town hall meeting.
Here are some of the comments:
Tweeting via @ozii_baba, a social media user, Ozii Baba Anieto, wrote: “Imagine Biden sending his V.P to a US Presidential Debate. These guys don’t rate us at all.”
@Okezman007: “And why is Tinubu missing on this lists????,”
@mavisikpeme said, “I’m more worried that the APC and PDP presidential candidates and their teams don’t understand simple English. Arise Tv specifically said presidential debate / town hall and they send in their VPs ; Okowa , Dino Melaye and Shettima?”
@Jkali1972: “So BAT won’t come?.. make una use una head o”
Another Twitter user, @StandingFann said, “Someone tell Arise TV that be it town hall or not If it’s for Presidential Candidates, it should be strictly for Presidential Candidates and not vices. This rubbish is not acceptable.”
@iam_7even: “What about Bola Ahmed Tinubu?? He’s the candidate of the most popular political party in the West African sub-region & the government in power. He shouldn’t be excluded.”
@Emmanueprincef: “Wait! Series one? I suppose there will be two then. But why should the APC candidate not be on the first series? Oh so he has not been lectured yet. They want to know the answer to this question first. This is bad.”
@gracify: “In the earlier announcement yesterday, Agbado’s name was there, why remove him now?”
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