By Adesina Soyooye
“We want to reiterate for the umpteenth time that no amount of blackmail, intimidation and media bully and innuendos by the owner and management of Arise News, will change the position our campaign has taken on this matter. Tinubu Will Not Attend Arise News Town Hall on Sunday December 4, or any other one it plans before February 2023”
The Presidential Candidate of the All Progressives Congress, APC, Bola Tinubu, has said that he would not appear at the Town Hall Meeting being hosted by Arise Television on December 4, or in any other one to be hosted by the News medium between now and February 2023 when the Presidential election will hold.
In a statement, the Director of Media and Publicity, APC Presidential Campaign Council, Bayo Onanuga, lashed out at Arise Television over its continous use of Tinubu’s name to advertise a Town Hall Meeting scheduled against December 4, 2022, when it had already been made clear to the organizers that Tinubu would not participate. He said the Presidential candidate had long declined the invitation.
The statement said it has boiled down to blackmail, intimidation and media bullying.
Onanuga: “We find it shocking and downright anomalous that Arise News continues to broadcast the participation of All Progressives Congress Presidential Candidate, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu in its Presidential Town Hall meeting scheduled to hold on 4 December, 2022, despite our earlier statement that our Candidate will not be available.
“We noticed that Arise News has, also, been running a campaign on the so-called constitutional duty of the Presidential candidates to participate in its debate by dubiously citing section 22 of the Constitution of Nigeria on the obligation of the Mass Media.
While Onanuga admitted that the Media has its constitutional role to hold public officers accountable to citizens and fulfill its role as the watchdog of the society, nowhere in the Constitution and section 22 says “a Presidential candidate of any political party and least of all, Tinubu must participate in Arise News Town Hall event or any media organised event at all.”
Continuing, Onanuga said:
“The same Constitution grants all citizens of Nigeria, including Asiwaju Tinubu, the right and freedom of choice and association. The APC Presidential Candidate has a right to decide where he goes and events to participate in as he seeks the mandate of Nigerians to be elected as the next President of our Country.
“We want to make it abundantly clear again that Asiwaju Bola Tinubu will not participate, and will not attend the Arise News Town Hall meeting slated for Sunday, 4, December, 2022, and any other ones it may plan before the February 2023 Presidential election.
“The APC Presidential Candidate has his own schedule of campaign activities and other engagements within and outside Nigeria. One of such events is his scheduled event for Monday, December 5, 2022 at Chatham House in London where he will speak on Security. Economy and Foreign Policy.
“Asiwaju Bola Tinubu traveled to United Kingdom early today (Saturday) for this earlier scheduled engagement. We want to reiterate, for the umpteenth time, that no amount of blackmail, intimidation and media bully and innuendos by the owner and management of Arise News will change the position our campaign has taken on this matter.”
Instructively, Tinubu did not, also, attend the first Town Hall Meeting organised by Arise Television and Partners.
Arise Television is owned by Prince Nduka Obaigbena who is also the Chairman/ Publisher of ThisDay Group of Newspapers.
And for the records, Tinubu owns The Nation Newspapers and Television Continental, TVC.
