The Nigerian Economic Summit Group (NESG) had announced a plan to hold a presidential debate for candidates from various political parties contesting for presidential seat in the 2023 general elections but announced the cancellation of the planned debate last Thursday.
The presidential candidate of the African Action Congress (AAC), Omoyele Sowore, has berated some professional bodies and non-governmental organisations for cancelling their scheduled presidential debates.
The Nigerian Economic Summit Group (NESG) had announced a plan to hold a presidential debate for candidates from various political parties contesting for presidential seat in the 2023 general elections but announced the cancellation of the planned debate last Thursday.
The NESG Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Laoye Jaiyeola, who announced the cancellation in a statement, said the decision was due to “prevailing circumstances.”
Jaiyeola had said that the NESG which was organising the debate in collaboration with the Nigerian Elections Debate Group (NEDG) decided to cancel the debate after “a critical assessment of events surrounding recent engagements with the presidential candidates, as well as subsequent statements from political parties.”
The Executive Secretary of NEDG, Eddie Emessiri, had in October announced that the debate would kick off from November 15 at the congress hall, Transcorp Hilton Hotel Abuja with discussions around economic matters.
According to Emessiri, the second part of the debate which presidential running mates would be the discussants was scheduled to hold on December 15 in Port Harcourt, while the third part of the debate was slated for January 19, 2023, in Lagos with discussions centred on foreign affairs and education, and the fourth part was to be held in Kano on February 16, with focus on insecurity, restructuring of the country, and ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs).
Only four presidential candidates out of the 18 cleared by INEC were expected to be invited for the debate and they would have been selected via a public opinion poll as Emessiri noted that the participating candidates were restricted to four in order to get the best answers and maximise the 135 minutes which would have been the duration of the debate.
But it would be recalled that the presidential candidate of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), Bola Tinubu, was absent at the first series of presidential debate organised by Arise Television as the party’s presidential campaign spokesman, Festus Keyamo said that Tinubu’s “hectic campaign schedule” would not permit him to be part of the debates.
Reacting to the cancellation of the proposed debate, the AAC presidential candidate, Sowore, who had earlier faulted some presidential debate organisers for excluding him and candidates of other political parties, said some professional bodies and groups cancelled their debates because their favoured presidential candidates declined to participate.
Sowore said that Bola Tinubu of the APC, Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Rabiu Kwankwaso of the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP) and Peter Obi of the Labour Party were running away from rigorous intellectual debates because they had nothing to offer to Nigerians.
He said, “Suddenly professional bodies and political NGOs are canceling engagements because their favoured Presidential candidates are declining to participate in rigorous intellectual debates because they have nothing to offer @officialABAT, @atiku, @KwankwasoRM @Peterobi are on the run!”
Suddenly professional bodies and political NGOs are cancelling engagements because their favoured Presidential candidates are declining to participate in rigorous intellectual debates because they have nothing to offer @officialABAT, @atiku,@KwankwasoRM @Peterobi are on the run!
— Omoyele Sowore (@YeleSowore) November 14, 2022