By Daniel Nwokocha

ISSUES arising from the 2019 presidential debate organised by the Nigerian Election Debate Group and the Broadcasting Organisation of Nigeria, on January 19, in Abuja, have continued to dominate the nation’s political space. The absence of President Muhammadu Buhari, who is contesting the February 16 presidential election on the ticket of the All Progressives Congress, APC, and Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, former vice-president, and  contesting the presidential election on the ticket of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, has elicited comments for obvious reasons. The well advertised presidential debate had raised expectations and anticipation of millions of agitated Nigerians and friends of Nigeria that the debate would provide an opportunity for them to assess  beyond the dramas, the mental fitness among other things, of those presenting themselves for the race of the office of president, especially the incumbent President Buhari.

Osinbajo speaks at TV debate. Left of him is Peter Obi of the PDP

Today, everybody is talking about the debate and asking whether it is right for the two major contestants to miss the debate. I have had occasion in the past to express my view on presidential debates in our country. And I have insisted on focusing on the very essence of presidential debate, any arrangements that compromise the essence of the debate would mean taking the entire people of Nigeria for granted. In fact, debates are not just addresses or rallies; they are ultimately a stage where opposing arguments are put forward by the debaters. Presidential debates provide a platform where critical issues and questions of national importance are argued and answers are provided. In such debates, it is usually between forces for and against, it is not a narrative exercise where the contestants come to entertain the audience.  As a matter of fact, certain issues of national importance often come up at the debate to which only the incumbent can provide answers.

In developed democracies, presidential debates are usually organised for only the top contenders. For example, in the case of the US, which Nigeria copies, the debate is usually between just two parties, the Democrats and the Republicans. Even though other parties field candidates for the presidential elections in the US, only the candidates of the two major contending parties feature in their presidential debates  of course, after the parties’ primaries. All over the world, except in Nigeria, presidential debates lose their essence once the incumbent is not going to be in attendance. Again, take the US for example, it is unimaginable that the incumbent president would miss out on such a very important debate because the debate is designed to analyse the performance of the incumbent and his party and by the same token, extract commitments from the contenders.

It is very unfortunate that President Buhari and his party, APC, did not see the debate in this light, rather, the party as usual gave untenable excuses why President Buhari was absent at the debate. According to the spokesman for the APC Presidential Campaign Council, Mr. Festus Keyamo, Buhari did not attend the debate because it clashed with his other major activities. The APC and President Buhari behaved true to type. In fact, the party did not disappoint  Nigerians                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                     who predicted that President Buhari would dodge the debate. It would be recalled that Buhari in the same manner refused to participate in the March 2015 presidential debate where the contenders spoke about their ideas and programmes on how to fix Nigeria.

The question is: what is the essence of debate if the one central to it chose to boycott it? Nigerians have been saying so many things about the absence of President Buhari at the all important debate and have come to a conclusion that President Buhari actually has no programme for the country. And that the ruling party deliberately took Nigerians for granted. But while Nigerians are struggling to swallow this obvious act of disservice to our country, the party with the same token took on Atiku, Buhari’s real nightmare in the presidential race, just to distract Nigerians the more. One can understand that handlers of President Buhari are still behaving as if his absence at the debate is not an issue. It should be emphasised that his absence totally diminished the importance of the debate. Like in sports contests, Buhari’s handlers should be reminded that Buhari is the reigning or defending champion. The expectations, excitements of those present at the arena and those following via satellite crashed as the champion stayed away.

Fortunately for Atiku, more Nigerians are now convinced about his commitment to get Nigeria working again. Atiku demonstrated that he was fully prepared for the debate despite a long trip from the US and the hectic schedules arising from it, he moved straight to the debate venue but politely excused himself after realising that the defending champion had decided to shun the debate. It is unfortunate that Buhari and the APC did not see it fit to seize this opportunity to engage his challengers and Nigerians in general through the debate.

This is the reason the other contenders should have also insisted that they would not participate in the debate if Buhari was not going to be available. What was the essence of all they said about the wobbly situation of the country if President Buhari who presides over the affairs of the country was not there? So who were they debating with? The fact is, all the other contestants who chose to go ahead with the debate did not do so because they were comfortable with the fact that Buhari was not present or that they love Nigeria and Nigerians more than Atiku, but only seized the opportunity of free live television coverage provided by the occasion to speak of their ambition.  But after all the dramas, one of the contestants, Oby Ezekwesili has withdrawn from the race. What then was all the drama for? This has further indicated how far they would go to compromise standards just to further their own personal interests which they masqueraded as national interest. It is very clear to Nigerians that some of the contestants do not have campaign posters, or billboards or campaign secretariat. At this stage of our national life, we can no longer take certain things for granted.

Nigerians understand very well that Buhari’s presence at the debate was important, for almost four years the presidency kept making excuses for its poor performance in managing the economy, Boko Haram attacks, herdsmen killings, hunger and increasing poverty in the country.  If one of the contenders  at the debate had decided to ask question on why Boko Haram is killing our soldiers, who will provide answer to the question if not the incumbent president?

If another contender decided to ask why the abducted Dapchi school girl, Leah Sheribu has not been rescued. Can any other contestants answer it.  Who among the other contenders could have explained why our country is now home of the world’s poorest people.  A disturbing statement credited to the British Prime Minister, Theresa May, during her visit to Nigeria in August 2018. Who among them would have been able to provide answers to questions agitating Nigerians other than President Buhari. Yet,  Buhari was no where near the venue of the debate showing total disregard for Nigerians as always. Say whatever you may, I maintain that Atiku was right in excusing himself from the debate.

Atiku is not desperate. His ambition is clear about Nigeria and not about his person. And he shows this by insisting that things have to be done well by all, irrespective of status. He has willingly engaged Nigerians at different fora where he was subjected to serious questions agitating the minds of the people of Nigeria, not a stage managed town-hall shows as Nigerians have seen in the case of Buhari and APC.

NWOKOCHA IS A POLITICAL AFFAIR ANALYST BASED IN ABUJA