According to Elombah, the Buhari campaign organisation has just confirmed they will not be attending the Channels Television presidential election debate scheduled for Tuesday, February 3, 2015.
The APC had, two days after APC pulled out of the NEDG/BON-organised presidential debate, accepted in principle to participate in a debate organised by the Newspaper Proprietors’ Association of Nigeria (NPAN), ARISE Television and Channels Television.
The debate, initiated by ARISE Television and Channels, and THISDAY and Guardian Newspapers Limited on behalf the Newspapers Proprietors’ Association of Nigeria (NPAN), was scheduled to hold at the Congress Hall of the Transcorp Hilton Hotel, Abuja.
The February 3 debate is coming on the heels of an earlier attempt by the Nigeria Election Debate Group to host a presidential debate, which is currently mired in controversy following the rejection of the invite to participate by the presidential flag-bearer of the All Progressives Congress (APC), General Muhammadu Buhari, alleging unhidden bias and campaign of calumny by its key organisers against the party’s corporate interest.
Elombah reports that an indication that Tuesday’s debate will not suffer the fate of the BON-organised version has been bolstered by the acceptance of the invite through a letter by Jonathan/Sambo 2015 Presidential Campaign Organisation, while General Buhari Campaign Organisation has indicated his intention to participate in principle.
In a statement on Sunday by the APC campaign spokesman, Mallam Garba Shehu, the APC said its candidate would not shy away from explaining his policy plank on how to rebuild Nigeria, assuring the public that Buhari will make himself available for a debate and scrutiny like he had done in previous elections.
It added that Buhari would not hesitate to explore any opportunity to explain how he plans to rescue Nigeria from the abyss of insecurity, comatose economy, decaying infrastructure, massive unemployment and the poor public health situation into which the corrupt regime of the incumbent president has thrown it.
“What is the hullabaloo about Buhari not attending a debate organised by elements that have shown an unhidden bias towards his person, family, career and political interest?” Shehu queried.
“It is on record that the man (Buhari) had participated in previous presidential debates in 2007 and 2011, which PDP candidates did not attend.
“The APC and General Buhari have received several media invitations from different organisations and the party is still vetting the ones to attend due to time constraint and the motive of the organisers,” he said. (Elombah)