By Gideon Njoku
The Presidential candidate of the Labour Party, LP, will not be part of any Presidential debate or Townhall meetings that does not have the presence of the Presidential Candidates of the All Progressives Congress, APC, Bola Tinubu, and that of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Atiku Abubakar.
Tinubu, in particular, has been boycotting all such meets.The climax was his boycott of the Townhall meeting held in Abuja on Sunday, November 6, 2022 for Presidential candidates. It was organized by ARISE TV and other democratic partners. Tinubu did not send a representative either. While his image managers said he was busy at a meet with an Agricultural Association outside Abuja, a trending photograph/video showed Tinubu at the 80th birthday party in Abuja of Col.Sani Bello rtd. The retired Col is the father of the Niger State Governor, Abubakar Sani-Bello.
From their explanation, Tinubu is not likely to attend any such events.
PDP’s Atiku Abubakar sent his running mate, Dr Ifeanyi Okowa, Delta State Governor to represent him But Okowa’s presence was resisted and protested against by the crowd all of whom insisted that they came to listen to Presidential candidates not their running mates. It took quite sometime to calm the people down to allow Okowa represent Atiku.
Based on the happenings of Sunday, the Director General of the LP Presidential Campaign Council, Dr Doyin Okupe, at a Press Conference in Abuja, said LP’s candidate, Peter Obi, will no longer be available for such outings without the presence of other Presidential candidates.
The Presidential candidates present at the Sunday Townhall event were Peter Obi, LP, Senator Rabiu Kwankwaso, New Nigeria Peoples Party, NNPP and Kola Abiola of the Peoples Redemption Party, PRP.
In 2015 and 2019, incumbent President, Muhammadu Buhari, avoided all such events that exposed him to the public for rigorous interrogation.
