2023 Election: 3 Instances That Justify Tinubu Will Not Attend Any Presidential Debate

• The consistent unavailability of Bola Tinubu, the presidential candidate of the APC, to answer questions from the media has sent a red flag that he would not be available for any debate
• Also, statements from Festus Keyamo and the Tinubu media team are other pointers that the former Lagos state governor should not be expected to answer any question from the media
• Tinubu has not been appearing at any invited gathering where he was expected to present his to the Nigerian public his manifesto, as some have done

The journey to the 2023 presidential election first kickstarted with an event by the Nigeria Bar Association (NBA), where some presidential candidates were invited to speak about their plans.

The most recent of all is the town hall meeting organised by Arise TV, in which, as usual, Bola Tinubu, the presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), did not show up.

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Unlike others where Tinubu’s running mate, Kashim Shettima, has appeared, the Arise TV town hall meeting for presidential candidates was totally ignored and condemned by the ruling party and its flagbearer.

Reacting to criticism against the absence of Tinubu at the recent town hall meeting of presidential candidates, the director of public affairs and spokesperson of the Tinubu/Shettima presidential campaign council, Festus Keyamo, released a statement.

APC's response to criticism against Tinubu's absence at Arise TV townhall meeting

In the statement, the APC argued that its candidate already has a scheduled meeting with the farmers’ associations in Niger state, an event which was later held on Monday, November 8.

However, Keyamo, in a veiled message, hinted that Tinubu might not honour invitations from any media organisation, either Television or Radio, and other platforms.

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This is embedded in the third paragraph of the statement, which reads:

“The busy and hectic campaign schedule 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.”

Keyamo's reaction to Peter Obi's not attending media debate without Tinubu or Atiku in present

Keyamo further reiterated this position in a veiled message in his reaction to a comment by Doyin Okupe, the Labour Party presidential campaign council spokesperson.

Okupe, in a report, claimed that the Labour Party's presidential candidate, Peter Obi, will no longer attend any presidential debate where Tinubu or its counterpart in the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar, are absent.

The APC stalwart laughed at the report, adding that it is now about the presence of Bola Tinubu and no longer speaking to Nigerians directly.

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Keyamo’s reaction reads in part:

“I thought it was all about talking to the Nigerian people directly. What an experienced man can see whilst sitting down, an inexperienced man will not see from the top of an Iroko Tree!”

APC presidential campaign council

Also, the APC presidential campaign council, in a statement titled, “PDP and LP are confused”, signed by Tunde Rahman, its media spokesperson, further reiterated Keyamo’s position.

The statement reads in part:

“We want to state again for the attention of both PDP and LP, that Asiwaju Tinubu will not be railroaded into media appearances and debates.”

APC chieftain mocks PDP as opposition party's logo turns upside down at political gathering

Legit.ng earlier reported that APC chieftain, Abubakar Sidiq Usman, has mocked the PDP for a lack of organisation and planning.

Abubakar Usman, who is a special assistant on new media to senate president Ahmed Lawan, made a literary connotation of a PDP logo being turned upside down at a small political gathering.

Usman, in his connotation, maintained that the image is a metaphor for the crisis rocking the leading opposition in the build-up to the 2023 election.

Source: Legit.ng