By Daniel Kanu
Assistant Politics Editor
The 2019 Presidential debate, presumed to be the mother of all debates took place on Saturday, January 19, 2019, with candidates of the All Progressives Congress (APC), President Mohammadu Buhari, and his Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) counterpart Abubarkar Atiku absent at the debate organised by NESG/BON.
Other contestants, Oby Ezekwesili, Kingsley Moghalu and Fela Durotoye representing the Allied Congress Party of Nigeria (ACPN), Young Progressives Party (YPP) and Alliance for New Nigeria (ANN), respectively, were all present.
Atiku, who arrived at the venue of the debate in Abuja just as the debate was about to start was said to have refused to join the other candidates that had already been called to the podium by the moderator.
His reason was that he would not participate in a presidential debate that the President was absent.
The other candidates lampooned the duo for their absence.
Said Ezekwesili: “I am not surprised they are not here, they have just simply announced their exit. I think it is important for us to acknowledge that there is a political class that simply needs to fade away from our country.
“This is because the idea that the will of the people will be subordinated to the whims and caprices of our politicians should be a total anomaly and today as we in this country focus on competitive ideas that will develop our country if the two dominant parties cared about the Nigerian people they would come here to have a contest of ideas on how we will take Nigeria.
“This is a moment to make a clear judgment to wheather we are connected to the issues that matter to the Nigerian people”.
For Moghalu “The reason they are not here; there are two reasons: one is arrogance; they believe that the people of Nigeria have no voice and no choice, that we will always come back to them, they believe that Nigerians cannot move away from them, they believe they have trapped Nigerians and have kept Nigerians in bondage for far too long and it is now time to send them a message.
“The second reason they are not here is because they cannot answer the questions. They belong to the old class of recycled politicians who want to come to power with the sense of entitlement but not with a record of performance”.
In his submission Durotoye said, “The future is here and that old things have passed away. It is pride coming before a fall”.
