Saraki castigates Buhari saying he is sure president will shy away from televised debate

SENATE president Senator Bukola Saraki has revealed that President Muhammadu Buhari will not be available for the Nigerian Elections Debate Group (NEDG) and the Broadcasting Organisations of Nigeria (Bon) presidential debate due to hold on January 19.

In February next year, Nigeria goes to the polls, with about 70 candidates expected to run for president and in line with convention, there will be at least two televised debates involving the candidates. Due to the large number of contestants, the NEDG and Bon have had to cut down the number of candidates who will appear in their debates to five, selecting those they perceived to be the frontrunners.

Already, the vice presidential candidates have held a debate with Professor Yemi Osinbajo of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and Peter Obi of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), involved in a heated exchange in the way forward. Senator Saraki who defected from the APC to the PDP this year, has predicted that President Buhari will not attend the debate when it holds.

Presidential aspirants invited to participate in the debate include Atiku Abubakar, Muhammadu Buhari, Oby Ezekwesili, Fela Durotoye and Kingsley Moghalu. According to Senator Saraki, any president seeking to lead the country should be able to come forward and tell the people what he wants to do for them.

Senator Saraki said: “I am very sure he is not going to debate, so how do you assess somebody who is not ready to tell you what he is going to do? For a country that leads the continent, that is not the example we want to set.

“The whole world is going in a direction that if you are seeking a position, you must come and tell people what you want to do, you must sit down and they will ask you questions. I hope that at the end of this exercise, you will stand up and say yes, this is the team that will secure Nigeria, this is the team that will unite Nigeria and this is the team that will fight the poverty in town and bring about a bright future."