Ahead of Sunday’s third edition of the presidential town hall meeting organised by Arise Television, the All Progressives Congress (APC) presidential candidate, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, has listed conditions his counterpart from the Labour Party (LP), Peter Obi, must meet before engaging in a debate with him.
Tinubu said he would engage Obi in a debate after the latter releases his manifesto for Nigerians to scrutinise. Recall that Tinubu had earlier said he would not attend the third edition of the presidential town hall meeting organised by the television station in collaboration with the Centre for Democracy and Development (CDD) after he abstained from previous edition.
The third edition, which will focus on education, healthcare, poverty, and human capital, is expected to host Tinubu, Obi, standard bearer of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar and New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP) presidential hopeful, Rabiu Kwankwaso.
Speaking through the spokesman of his campaign team, Festus Keyamo, yesterday, Tinubu said Obi should also list his achievements during his tenure as governor of Anambra State before any debate can hold.
Keyamo said Obi should name any political party he formed and should disclose those he had mentored in politics who are still with him before asking for a debate.
“Before Obi can stand shoulder to shoulder with Asiwaju to debate, he should first release a manifesto for scrutiny; then he should list his tangible achievements as governor of Anambra compared to the tangible achievements of Asiwaju as governor of Lagos State.
“Then he should list those he has mentored in politics from the days of his being governor, who are still with him now; then he should tell us any political party he has either formed or partnered to form and which he still belongs to today,” he said.
The Minister of State for Labour and Employment added: “Then he should list his democratic credentials, that is, what he did to contribute to the return to democracy from military rule and what he has since done better than Asiwaju, to sustain our democracy. After all these, we shall send them one of our spokespersons to debate with him.”
But Arise TV has insisted candidates participating in the 2023 presidential election must respect the Constitution and ensure they respond to questions from the media on their manifestos.
The broadcast media had at the weekend announced that its third presidential town hall series will hold on December 4, with four presidential candidates expected to attend on the said day, to which the Tinubu campaign organisation said its presidential candidate will not attend, citing lack of prior discussion on the matter with Arise TV, as a reason for the non-attendance.
The campaign organisation also warned Arise TV against using its candidate’s photograph on advertisements for the town hall meeting. But in another poster announcing the town hall meeting on Tuesday, Arise TV listed Tinubu as one of the invited candidates, and quoted section 22 of the 1999 Constitution.
“The press, radio, television and other agencies of the mass media shall at all times be free to uphold the fundamental objectives contained in this chapter and uphold the responsibility and accountability of the government to the people,” the aforementioned section reads.
The broadcast media said it is expected of a presidential candidate to “respond to questions from independent journalists.
“In furtherance to this constitutional duty, Arise news channel will host the third in the series of the presidential town hall and expects all candidates seeking elections to form a government under this Constitution, to respect the letters and spirit of the law, either on Arise news channel or any broadcast channel or media of their choice, to respond to questions from independent journalists, in keeping with the fundamental objectives, responsibility and accountability required by the Constitution for those who wish to lead us,” Arise TV added.
