By Daniel Kanu
Assistant Politics Editor
The memory snd lessons of the Vice Presidential debate that held on Friday, December 14, 2018, will continue to linger in the minds of followers of Nigerian politics.
The debate which was put together by the Nigerian Election Debate Group (NEDG) and the Broadcasting Organisation of Nigeria (BON) has helped to sensitize more voters on which party truly holds the ace.
Five candidates contesting for the vice presidency, engaged in the debate.
The parties represented were: Allied Congress Party of Nigeria (ACPN), Alliance for New Nigeria (ANN), All Progressives Congress (APC), Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and Young Progressives Party (YPP).
The parties were represented by Yemi Osinbajo (APC), Peter Obi (PDP), Umma Getso (YPP), Alhaji Abdulganiyu Galadima (ACPN) and Khadijah Abdullahi-Iya (ANN).
As expected, their responses and opinions have continued to draw mixed reactions from Nigerians.
Although they were five candidates that participated in the debate, most political commentators say it was a contest between Obi and Osinbajo.
But very critical commentators were quick to add that Obi stole the show given the way he reeled out facts and figures off head, particularly, on the way forward economically.
Obi’s views, which by extension, are the position of his party, according to Alhaji Bunda Musa, “provides ray of hope that this country can be fixed again despite the damage done by the ruling party, APC”.
Musa told The Niche that he was always at a loss when the APC blames the PDP for 16 years of mismanagement while over 80 percent of today’s APC leaders were former members of the PDP.
For Hon. Cally Odoemenam, ADC, House of Representatives candidate for Ikeja constituency, Obi showed mastery of key economic issues.
“In my assessment Peter Obi handled economic issues better than Osinbajo. And for me that is the trust of the debate because you can’t fix Nigeria without adequate knowledge of economic issues,” he noted in his Whats-App view.
Odoemenam disclosed more on the economic error of Osinbajo that has kept the country in its sorry state.
According to him, “On unemployment, Obi said the key to reducing unemployment is getting manufacturing back as the key driver, while Osinbajo prefers to rely on “trader moni” to reduce poverty.
“On exchange rate, Obi said by bringing investors and providing guarantees and confidence, who will set up production plants the demand for fx will drop hence the price. Osinbajo said their government inherited crude oil at below S30/b that affected the reserves. So now the oil price is above S60/b the exchange rate is better.
“On fighting corruption. Obi said fighting corruption is not an “economic policy” hence you don’t luck up your shop to be chasing criminals. Else hunger will kill the person. Osinbajo said if criminals have looted everything in your shop its better you luck it and chase them. So that is why fighting corruption is their key economic policy.
“On subsidy, Obi said it is wrong to spend N1 trillion a year on fuel subsidy while spending 350b on education and 400b on health. That’s why our education standard is low. Osinbajo said government can’t afford to remove subsidy to avoid hike in price. You can see the views of one (Obi) who knows where he is going”.
Mrs Beatrice Abiodun, told The Niche that “if they (APC government) have applied all the measures he said were the solution, why then are things getting worse?”
But Samson Kokpa told The Niche that some of the figures Obi reeled out were wrong as he could not substantiate the source.
He said knowing the facts were different from implementing it, especially given the nation’s corrupt standard.
Also reacting to the debate, Reno Omokri, the former aide to ex-President Goodluck Jonathan, said that Osinbajo during the debate showed Nigerians that he was still stuck in 2015 while Obi showed he was ready for the Nigeria of tomorrow.
He wrote in his Twitter page, “Osinbajo should have told the public what they have done and what they intend to do.
“By basing his strategy on the false narrative of 16 years of PDP rot, Osinbajo has shown that he is stuck in 2015 while Peter Obi is not just up to today, he is up to tomorrow.”
Bankole Omisore, public analyst said nobody should blame Osinbajo because he was marketing a bad product.
Said Omisore, “I honestly think Prof Osinbajo is a brilliant individual. But on this debate, Peter Obi schooled him. I will not blame VP though, no matter how brilliant and sweet your mouth is, you can’t market a bad product. This election is a referendum on what Buhari has done since 2015”.
Sola Kuti said that there was no competition rather Obi should be paid for what he described as “the lecture series he presented.”
According to Kuti, “BON should just pay Peter Obi an appearance fee for this lecture series. This was not a debate at all.”
“Peter Obi looked more bright, with enough information and well articulated,” said Tosin Olugbenga.
Valentine Obienyem, media adviser to Obi, has asked Nigerians to disregard those going about debunking, as incorrect, the data used by Obi to support his points during the debate.
He said the sources of all the facts /statistics Obi put forward could easily be verified.
To make the matter clear, Obienyem listed all the points that Obi made during the debate and gave the source of Obi’s data, which he challenged those doubting their authenticity to verify.
Part of the statement reads: “During the debate, Obi said that Nigeria used over 50 percent of her revenue to service debt. This can be verified from DMO’s 2017 reports on Nigeria’s debt stock and total debt service. Obi said the country’s total debt stock was N22.7 trillion, about USD80 billion. This can be verified from DMO’s June 2018 report on Nigeria’s debt stock.
“Obi said that Mexico’s GDP was over USD1 trillion and its GDP per capita was over USD8,000. This can be verified from World Bank report on: https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/NY.GDP.MKTP.KD? locations=MX&view=chart).
“Obi said that South Africa’s stock market capitalization was USD900 billion. This can be verified from Stock Market Clock (https://www.stockmarketclock.com/exchanges/jse).
“Obi said that Nigerian bank loans made up 15% of GDP. This can be verified from the World Bank (source: https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/FD.AST.PRVT.GD.ZS?locations=NG&view=chart). All the facts and figures he used cannot be controverted”.
Most Political watchers who spoke with The Niche hailed Obi for his performance, urging him to equally update his Presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, on solid economic facts given the intellectual capacity of some of the candidates that would square up with him at the Presidential debate in January.