The presidential candidate of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), Atiku Abubakar, has challenged President Bola Tinubu to a national presidential debate ahead of the 2027 general elections.
Atiku said his participation in presidential debates would be conditional on the participation of President Tinubu and the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).
His position was contained in a statement issued on Tuesday by his official spokesperson, Kenneth Okonkwo.
According to Okonkwo, presidential debates should provide Nigerians with an opportunity to hear both the ruling party and opposition candidates present their policies, programmes and plans for the country.
He criticised the practice of organising debates involving only opposition candidates, describing such an arrangement as “untenable.”
He also accused the APC-led administration of using opposition-only debates to create divisions among opposition parties while avoiding direct scrutiny from Nigerians.
The statement said:
“Political contest worldwide has always been between the ruling party and the opposition parties. Presidential debates worldwide have also been organised between the ruling party and the opposition.
“The situation in Nigeria today in which presidential debates are organised among the opposition parties only is therefore untenable.”
Atiku, according to the statement, is willing to engage Nigerians through interviews, town hall meetings, press conferences and other public forums but would not participate in a debate format that pits opposition candidates against one another while excluding the ruling party.
The former vice president therefore challenged President Tinubu to participate in a national presidential debate where both the government and opposition parties could present their policies and explain how they intend to achieve them.
The statement added that such a debate would enable Nigerians to make an informed decision ahead of the 2027 presidential election.
“There is no hiding place for APC in 2027,” the statement declared.