Besides the fact that the absence of the All Progressives Congress, presidential candidate, President Muhammadu Buhari and former vice president Atiku
Besides the fact that the absence of the All Progressives Congress, presidential candidate, President Muhammadu Buhari and former vice president Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party, from the presidential debate on Saturday night was greeted with heavy knocks, especially by the younger generation on the social media, the debate, was, however, powered by government-sponsored adverts strategically aimed at marketing Buhari, each time there was a short break.
Organised by the Broadcasting Corporation of Nigeria and the Nigerian Elections Debate Group, the presidential debate had in attendance, former Minister of Education, Dr. Oby Ezekwesili; motivational speaker, Mr. Fela Durotoye; and a former deputy governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Mr. Kingsley Moghalu. The trio took the advantage of Buhari and Atiku’s absence to assert that the two front-runners shunned the debate because they lack modern ideas to move Nigeria forward in this digital era.
Atiku, who arrived from the United States at least four hours before the event, had proceeded to the Transcorp Hilton, venue of the event, but he walked out when he discovered that Buhari was absent. Atiku’s subsequent lengthy tweets explaining the reasons for his action did not resonate with Nigerians, especially his supporters who had thought that the debate would be the icing on the cake of his ‘triumphant entry’ to America.
APC’s candidate and incumbent President, Muhammadu Buhari said he could not attend the 2019 presidential debate because the programme clashed with his other major activities.
