Nigerians are urging the presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress, APC and a former Head of State , Major-General Muhammadu Buhari (rtd) to participate in a debate with other presidential candidates in the 2015 elections, so that the electorates can vote wisely.

Reacting to the decline of the APC and its presidential candidate to participate in the debate organized by the Nigeria Election Debate Group, NEDG, Nigerians took to their Twitter pages to express frustration and urged Gen. Buhari to reconsider the stance of his party. Using the hashtag, #BuhariMustDebate, they argued that a debate will offer the electorates the opportunity to listen to the programmes of the candidates, thus, making it easier for them (electorates) to vote for the best candidate, especially now that the leading political parties are engaged in mudslinging.

The hashtag, #BuhariMustDebate, was created by the Special Assistant to President Goodluck Jonathan on New Media, Reno Omokri, on Thursday, following the announcement by the APC that it will not participate in the debate. The hashtag generated many retweets thus trending, even till Friday, when the APC held its presidential mega rally in Lagos state.

It will be recalled that The All Progressives Congress (APC), Thursday, said it will not participate in the ongoing public debates on national television and radio stations organised by the Nigeria Election Debate Group (NEDG). It alleged that NEDG, co-ordinating the debate, was fraught with fundamental errors from the outset, according to a statement signed by Malam Garba Shehu, the Director Media and Publicity of the APC Campaign Organisation.

The Director of Media and Publicity of the PDP Presidential Campaign Organisation, Femi Fani Kayode claimed the APC took the decision to boycott the programme simply to shield from Nigerians and the international audience its candidate, General Muhammadu Buhari’s intellectual laziness and inability to constructively engage contemporary national issues in a live television and radio debate.

The Senior Special Assistant to President Jonathan on Public Affairs, Doyin Okupe said APC boycotted the debate to save Buhari from shame, as he does not have record of performance, education and eloquence needed for a debate to match Goodluck Jonathan of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP.

The United Progressive Party (UPP) presidential candidate, Chief Chekwas Okorie,  said that refusal by Buhari to participate in the scheduled debate was a great disappointment and advised him to jettison his advisors’ voices and participate in the scheduled debate.

Meanwhile, The Nigeria Election Debate Group (NEDG) said no party or group had written to say that it was not interested in participating in the elections debate.