Why Is Buhari Scared, We Challenge Him To A Debate

This is an article by presidential
spokesperson,Dr.Reuben Abati
The last time Nigerians enjoyed
something really close to an exciting
Presidential debate was during the 1993
Presidential elections. I recall the
colourful and memorable encounter
between the late Chief MKO Abiola of the
Social Democratic Party and Alhaji Bashir
Tofa of the National Republican
Convention. At the end of that debate, it
was clear who among the duo was better
experienced, much more intellectually
capable and more endearing to the
electorate in terms of readiness for the
job being applied for. That is what a
debate, under these circumstances, is: it is
a job interview.
The entire country is the panel and
whereas actual measurement of impact
may be tentative, especially in a
developing country where there are
challenges of illiteracy and access to mass
media, the performance of the candidates
ordinarily reshapes the conversation and
can significantly influence voters’ choice.
Unfortunately, in the lead up to this
year’s Presidential elections, it seems
certain that voters will be denied this
opportunity for comparison, assessment,
interaction, not to talk of the excitement
and drama.
The man to blame for this denial is
General Muhammadu Buhari, the
presidential candidate of the All
Progressives Congress (APC). Getting him
to debate the incumbent, President
Goodluck Ebele Jonathan has been an
uphill task. To say that the man is scared,
practically running away from an
opportunity to debate his ideas against
the incumbent’s, is to be charitable. He
doesn’t want it. Every effort to get him to
the podium has been rebuffed by him and
his handlers.
President Jonathan received, ahead of the
INEC rescheduling of the dates for the
2015 elections, two requests for a
Presidential debate. The President
enthusiastically accepted and looked
forward to both debates. But General
Buhari was not interested. There is no
gainsaying the fact that President
Jonathan and General Buhari are the main
contenders in this election. Every
Nigerian would love to see the two of
them debate. That would be good for our
democracy.
The first group that approached President
Jonathan was represented by John
Momoh of Channels TV; Emeka Izeze of
The Guardian, and Nduka Obaigbena of
ThisDay, Arise TV and the Newspapers
Proprietors Association of Nigeria. They
said they were in talks with the APC. They
needed us to agree to a debate. We
checked our campaign schedule, and
since Sundays were left free for review
meetings and further consultations, we
suggested that a Sunday date would be
most convenient for us. That was when
the drama began. The would-be
organisers soon informed us that General
Buhari did not want a debate on a
Sunday, because according to him “he
does not work on Sundays.”
I thought that was rather odd. President
Jonathan works every day. The job of a
President is a round-the-clock, all-year-
round engagement. If a Sunday date
would be inconvenient, may be a Monday
then. Feedback from the Buhari camp:
Monday was not okay either. Eventually,
the contact persons reported that a
Tuesday date had been agreed upon. This
coincided with a day when we were
supposed to have rallies in two states of
the North. Nonetheless, President
Jonathan directed that he will keep the
date, and that rallies for the day should
be fast-tracked. We adjusted our schedule
and intensified preparations for the
Jonathan encounter with Buhari.
Two days to this debate that would have
been, I received non-stop frantic calls
from the troika of Momoh, Izeze and
Obaigbena. There had been a
development, they said. The fresh
development was that they had met that
same evening with General Buhari and he
did not agree anymore to a debate with
President Jonathan. Rather, he wanted a
town hall meeting, in which he would be
the sole participant. Another town hall
meeting could be organized the same day
for President Jonathan and both could be
aired back to back. That was his request
and wish. Momoh and Co wanted the
President to agree to this.
They’d rather have the two candidates say
something on whatever platform than say
nothing at all. The President’s response
was that a town hall meeting is not the
same as a debate. He wanted a face-to-
face debate with General Buhari. He also
told Messrs Momoh, Izeze and Obaigbena
that if he wanted a town hall meeting, he
could always ask his Presidential
Campaign Organization to arrange it. And
General Buhari was in a position to
organize his own town hall meeting as
well. Should there be a change of mind
and an opportunity for a proper debate,
he, Jonathan, would be available at the
shortest notice. We haven’t heard from
the trio since then.
One of Buhari’s spokesmen later
announced that he was pulling out of that
particular debate because the organisers
had been “compromised” by government
and the integrity of the debate platform
they were offering was therefore
doubtful!Questions: The same media
houses that grant APC disproportionate
amount of attention, and which they
patronize to push their propaganda? And
who are the media managers on the APC
side questioning the integrity of their old-
time comrades, and one-time fellow
hunters just so they could be seen to be
committed? I leave these posers to the
well-known parties involved to sort out
among themselves, as they surely will
when all of this is over.
The second group that invited us to a
debate was the Nigeria Elections Debate
Group, anchored by veteran journalist
Taiwo Alimi in conjunction with a few
media houses. The NEDG has been
organizing election debates since 1999,
and has been so successful that it has
been invited to do the same thing in other
West African countries. The Buhari camp
again rejected this invitation on the
grounds that the media houses involved
were pro-government and therefore
partisan.
But of course, the puerile protestations of
Buhari’s handlers are meaningless. A
debate is what it is: an intellectual duel
requiring skills, knowledge, comportment
and the ability to persuade the listener.
The medium may even be far less
important than the message and the
messenger. I have no doubt that Buhari’s
handlers have enough sound knowledge
of this elementary truth, but they are
insecure. Each time they are asked to
produce their candidate for a debate, they
invent a ridiculous reason.
Obviously, General Buhari seems to be
afraid of engaging every other
Presidential candidate. He needs to be
reminded that a Presidential debate will
not require him to work out on a
treadmill, or jog the distance, or recite the
national pledge, or spell his running
mate’s name. President Jonathan was and
is ready. With Buhari fleeing the arena
with his tails between his legs, there were
suggestions that the President could end
up debating other candidates from
“smaller parties”, but he waved this
aside, insisting that every candidate is
important. As it then turned out, INEC
rescheduled the election dates just the
night before and the NEDG group on their
own, postponed the debate.
It is worrisome that any Presidential
candidate will shy away from a debate out
of timidity and fear of inadequacy. And
yet a President’s work is one of perpetual
debate. He will have to chair meetings,
where ideas will be expressed and he
must understand what works and may
not. He will
attend international meetings where he is
expected to contribute to discussions,
often in the format of a debate. Without
that ability to assimilate, process and
discuss ideas, nobody should be trusted
with even the management of a local
council not to talk of the whole of
Nigeria. A debate also provides a
candidate at this level, an opportunity to
communicate his vision of leadership, and
to explain to the electorate in his own
voice, why he deserves their vote.
General Buhari needs to come out of his
comfort zone and undertake this test. He
has been campaigning on the issues of
security yet his supporters preach hate
and violence. He talks about the economy
yet he couldn’t at a town hall meeting
differentiate between the excess crude
account and the foreign reserve. He
projects himself as an anti-corruption
angel yet he is surrounded by a large
crowd of morally conflicted persons; to
worsen it all, he doesn’t even know the
name of his own running mate. When he
grants interviews, his responses are
cryptic and elliptic, demonstrating such
shallowness that confuses an informed
audience.
His deliberate avoidance of a Presidential
debate is akin to an act of examination
malpractice. It is not good enough for a
man who wants to be President of our
country. He is short-changing the Nigerian
electorate by denying them the
opportunity of assessing him properly in
an open debate. While a Presidential
debate is not a constitutional
requirement, it is an established
convention that deepens and enriches the
democratic process.
President Jonathan is ready to meet him
in an open debate, any day, any hour, and
at any venue of his choice. We invite
General Buhari to take up the challenge.
Abati is President Jonathan’s official
spokesman and media adviser.