FORMER Vice President and presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, has asked his All Progressives Congress (APC) counterpart, Senator Bola Tinubu, to stop running away from public debates as the campaigns for the February 25, 2023 presidential election hot up.

Atiku spoke with Saturday Tribune through his spokes man-Kola Ologbondiyan, on Friday.He then challenged the APC candidate to come out & debate with him on all issues, including governance, policies, programmes and their past.

The PDP candidate alleged that Tinubu was avoiding debates so as not to answer questions surrounding his past.

Ologbondiyan said: “We challenge Senator Bola Ahmed Tinubu to an unscripted debate with Atiku Abubakar because Tinubu has been dodging debates and even interviews with the media.

“He has been organising private sessions with groups which our campaign believes are all choreographed in his favour. At most of these platforms, he either reads a prepared script or speaks through proxies who respond to ques- tions on his invitation.

“It is perceptible that the presidential candidate of the APC is not prepared to answer questions arising from the litany of allegations surrounding his past. “But Nigerians deserve to hear from him as a candidate that desires to govern them.

He should prepare himself to respond to their questions and make himself available for interviews in the public space. Atiku Abubakar has had several engagements like these, having prepared himself for leadership roles.

On his chances in the contest with Tinubu, Atiku’s spokesman boasted that the PDP candidate would defeat the APC candidate hands down in a free and fair contest.

He declared: “Tinubu does not have the requisite sup- port that can deliver him in a presidential election. With the type of rejection that is greeting him in various states, there is no way he can secure the required 25 per cent of votes in 2/3 of states.

“Even in Lagos, Tinubu has lost considerable foothold after being demystified as a failed and oppressive leader with litany of allegations. The traditional support that would have come to his party has now been balkanised by leading parties.

So, where will Tinubu draw the support from when the South-West, where he played his politics, has almost become a lost ground?

“Atiku is the only candidate in the 2023 race who has the capacity of winning the consti- tutionally required 25 per cent of votes cast in 2/3 of states across the federation,” he said.

The PDP candidate alleged that Tinubu was avoiding debates so as not to answer questions surrounding his past.

The worries and queries about Tinubu’s frequent habitation in London when he is needed in Nigeria are a direct consequence of our experience with Buhari who has elevated absenteeism, nonchalance, and “ungovernance” to an art.

Nigeria’s problems are too enormous to be additionallyburdened with another absent, detached, inelegantly insouciant presidency, which Tinubu’s current attitudes suggest we will have should he become president.

Tinubu and his minders need to come clean about the state of his health. If they insist that he is as fit as a fiddle, they need to tell us why he has been uncommunicative..

It is public communication that affords the president the opportunity to influence public opinion, to interface with citizens, and to frame and reframe the contours of national conversations.[/b]

What sort of presidency does Tinubu want to have if he becomes president? A continuation of Buhari? Well, he may not be as lucky as Buhari as been.

[b]After eight years of Buhari’s vacant, dementia-plagued presidency, the last thing Nigeria needs is another presidency that will double down on it, that would be conducted through dishonest press releases by presidential spokespersons, paid social media troll farms, and TV appearances by deviously mercenary mind managers.

CoronaVirusRelo:
Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu is not constitutionally mandated to attend a debate!..

Racoon:
He is not constitutionally mandated you said? But he wants to takes up a constitutional responsibility right? Do you hear your own myopic reasoning? No wonder Buhari entered government & became unaccountable and irresponsible. This must stop.

“The passion that drove people in 2015 has dissipated. The people have understood they were lied to and we have all seen the consequences of religious manipulations. The young people have become aware of this and they are asking the right questions. The energy in this coming election is tremendous and I am excited about the energy of the young people and their attention to the country’s election.

The era of rhetorics must be put behind Nigerians and that the electorates must sieve and interrogate the presidential candidates on their ideology, plans and governance style before making their choice. ...Never again will anybody become Nigeria’s President through fake and unsubstantiated packaging.”.

"Governance is not for smooth talkers. Most smooth talkers are the 419 people who talk their ways into power...." - Festus Keyamo

southsouthking:
Baba dey fear Debate.

CoronaVirusRelo:


Name it anything, Asiwaju is not perturbed!

Victory is GUARANTEED!

southsouthking:


And you are proud to say this?

CoronaVirusRelo:


Proud, fulfilling, motivated and energized.

CoronaVirusRelo:


Name it anything, Asiwaju is not perturbed!

Victory is GUARANTEED!

Dafe20:


If you lots ain't afraid, allow the the town hall different from. . . bladalu hulablu to come and debate with his fellow contestants.

southsouthking:


And you are proud to say this?

CoronaVirusRelo:


Stop attaching baseless importance to a debate!

Asiwaju should be more worried about losing the confidence of the electorates.

So why are you ingesting tramadol for another man’s headache?

Racoon:
He is not constitutionally mandated you said? But he wants to takes up a constitutional responsibility right? Do you hear your own myopic reasoning? No wonder Buhari entered government & became unaccountable and irresponsible. This must stop.

“The passion that drove people in 2015 has dissipated. The people have understood they were lied to and we have all seen the consequences of religious manipulations. The young people have become aware of this and they are asking the right questions. The energy in this coming election is tremendous and I am excited about the energy of the young people and their attention to the country’s election.

The era of rhetorics must be put behind Nigerians and that the electorates must sieve and interrogate the presidential candidates on their ideology, plans and governance style before making their choice. ...Never again will anybody become Nigeria’s President through fake and unsubstantiated packaging.”.

"Governance is not for smooth talkers. Most smooth talkers are the 419 people who talk their ways into power...." - Festus Keyamo

175:


This nauseating arrogance will be the end of you guys come February next year.

Like who you're talking to is not an electorate abi?

No worry!!!! Una go see pepper wey dey wait.

CoronaVirusRelo:


Too late!

2023 is already settled!

Nothing in 2022 can influence 2023.

175:


More of the reasons we say most of you guys are are political neophytes.

24hrs is a long time in the life of a political campaign. . . . .ah say make I tell you ooo

CoronaVirusRelo:


That’s the saying of mere humans

Super humans are way ahead of time!

175:





Now I fully understand why the town hall is different from bladalu hulablu




Coronavirus I wish you well.

CoronaVirusRelo:


I am strongly believing you will congratulate my highly esteemed self after the elections.

That you owe me!

Ofunaofu:
Tinubu should avail himself to answer questions surrounding his ancestry, educational background and his involvement in narcotic drugs Trafficking



Failure to do so, he should be disqualified from participating in the general election

No single individual is bigger than the country

CoronaVirusRelo:



Do you smoke Marijuana?

Ofunaofu:


Not at all

But we all know that Tinubu is a notorious Narcotic drug trafficker the state of Chicago has ever known

The records are there

CoronaVirusRelo:


You are definitely abusing a substance!

What part of the constitution states that a candidate can be disqualified for not attending a debate?

How did you arrive at that statement?