Kwankwaso showed up, Obi, Tinubu, Atiku awol; Obi’s campaign spokesman blames technical hitches

Kwankwaso made a solo appearance at the presidential debate after the three other invited candidates failed to show up.

The uncertainty that has characterised election debates in Nigeria again popped up on Sunday, February 12, 2023, when the New Nigeria People’s Party (NNPP) presidential candidate, Rabiu Kwankwaso, was left to debate himself after other candidates were a no-show.

The former Kano State governor cast a lonely figure on the podium prepared for the four frontline presidential candidates including Peter Obi, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, and Atiku Abubakar of the Labour Party, All Progressives Congress (APC), and the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) respectively, to talk about their programmes for Nigerians.

The presidential debate, co-organised by the Nigerian Elections Debate Group (NEDG) and the Broadcasting Organisation of Nigeria (BON), was held at the International Conference Centre in Abuja.

This is a recurring development as far as election debates in Nigeria are concerned as history is replete with examples of presidential candidates refusing to honour debate invitations.

Tinubu made it clear at the start of the campaigns that he would not honour any debate organised by any entity other than his campaign council and has gone on to make good on his words. This may explain the APC presidential candidate’s refusal to show up, and the lack of communication to that effect comes as less surprising compared to others.

Meanwhile, explaining the reason for his non-appearance on Sunday, Obi, who had tweeted his intention to attend the programme earlier in the day, blamed his absence on a faulty aircraft.

In a statement issued by the Obi/Datti campaign organisation on Sunday night, it was stated that the Labour Party flag-bearer had travelled to Ondo State from where he planned to jet to Abuja for the debate. However, he was forced to make a detour to Lagos after his aircraft suddenly developed technical challenges.

“The Obi-Datti Campaign hereby states that our candidate, Mr Peter Obi, was unable to attend the debate programme following the advice of the technical crew of the aircraft he was travelling in.

“After an engagement in Akure, Ondo State, he meant to head for Abuja for the debate but was advised otherwise due to technical issues with the aircraft which made the pilot decide to head for Lagos instead.

“It must be noted that in anticipation of Mr Obi’s arrival, senior members of the campaign and the party had gathered at the International Conference Centre, Abuja, venue of the programme,” the statement read.

But there is no information as at the moment from the campaign council of Atiku Abubakar the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party.

Kwankwaso described himself as the best candidate to be Nigeria’s next president because he had been preparing himself for the job for the past 47 years, made up of 17 years as a civil servant and 30 years as a politician.

“Kwankwaso is not the type who is in a hurry to be president. In 2007, I was in the civil service for 17 years.

“I was the deputy speaker, House of Representatives; I was in the Constitutional Conference, I was Governor and I was a Minister of Defence. But I went back to Kano because I had an uncompleted job.

“So, I believe today, in terms of qualification, in terms of even health, in terms of capacity, in terms of experience, of course,” he said.

Mr Kwankwaso added: “The issue of integrity is very critical because that is what is lacking in most politicians in this country right from councillorship to the presidency.

“It is not easy because to prepare yourself to be a candidate to beat you will need to do a lot of sacrifices.”

“I thank almighty God that today I am standing and I believe Kwankwaso is the best candidate, I am the best person under our circumstances to be the president of Nigeria.”