By Haniel Ukpaukure
Debates involving candidates in an election are usually organised as part of electioneering, to provide them a common platform to speak to the electorate at the same time, beyond the soap box they mount at rallies at different times, at different venues, to sell their programmes.
The event may not have a direct bearing on the choice of voters in an election, and is in fact not known to contribute more than, perhaps, two or three per cent of candidates’ chances of getting voters on their side. But it helps to present, to educated and discerning voters, an opportunity to assess the readiness, seriousness and capacity of candidates for the office for which they campaign.
The first in what is going to be several presidential election debates took place in Abuja on the night of Sunday, November 6, 2022. A brainchild of the Centre for Democracy and Development in collaboration with Arise News, the event was expected to bring together the four leading presidential candidates in the 2023 election, namely, Atiku Abubakar (Peoples Democratic Party); Rabiu Kwankwaso (New Nigeria Peoples Party); Peter Obi (Labour Party) and Bola Tinubu (All Progressives Congress).
The absence of Atiku and Tinubu took the shine off the debate, making it not to live up to its billing. One must, however, give credit to Kwankwaso, Obi, Ifeanyi Okowa, Vice Presidential Candidate of PDP who stood in for Atiku, and Kola Abiola, Presidential Candidate of the Peoples Redemption Party who was drafted in at the eleventh hour due to the unexplainable absence of Tinubu who did not deem it fit to send a representative.
There have been various reactions and reviews of the maiden edition of the event since it was held, regarding the performance of the participants, depending, of course, on who is doing the review, and his choice of candidate or party.
My concern in this article is the threat by the Obi-Datti Presidential Campaign Organisation not to attend subsequent debates if presidential candidates would not attend, but send representatives.
Addressing a press conference in Abuja less than 24 hours after the debate, a visibly angry Doyin Okupe, director general of the organisation, had threatened that Obi would not attend future debates if his counterparts continue to treat the event with levity, and resort to what he considered the arrogance of sending surrogates.
The point must be made that the presidential debate is not organized to allow candidates rub shoulders or compete with one another. It is not a contest involving candidates. They are not expected to sit on the podium and talk to themselves. There should therefore be no question of somebody feeling slighted that he is made to sit down to talk with a junior counterpart.
The event is organized to provide a more convivial setting and atmosphere for candidates to talk to Nigerians in the comfort of their homes, outside the noise and drama of political rallies which the majority of voters do not attend or watch on television.
It is an opportunity for candidates to talk to those who do not vote based on sentiments. A candidate shouldn’t be concerned about who attends in person or sends a representative, or even stays away. It should be the business of viewers and voters to decide what to make of such people.
There are many reasons why Obi should not even contemplate boycotting subsequent debates if his “mates” send surrogates or stay away. Despite his record of performance as governor of Anambra State for eight years, which is his selling point in the current campaign, he is a new comer in national politics. His taste of politics at the federal level was in 2019 when he was running mate to Atiku on the platform of PDP. He does not have the national name recognition of Atiku and Tinubu.
The national phenomenon he has become since crossing over to the Labour Party from PDP, in May, has been propelled primarily by the youth who see in him a breath of fresh air, from what they have been sued to, since 1999.
It would be politically suicidal for him to assume that he needs no further introduction to Nigerians, and for that reason, getting into Aso Rock is going to be a stroll in the park. He cannot afford the arrogance of Atiku and Tinubu in either sending representatives or staying away from debates, if indeed that’s what it is. He needs to do more marketing than the duo.
The Labour Party does not hold any seat in any local government council, state house of assembly, the House of Representatives or the Senate. It is the reason Obi’s opponents scoff at his presidential race, saying he has no structure.
Not many Nigerians knew about the party’s existence until his entry. Today, Nigerians know about Labour Party because of Peter Obi, and not the other way round. In fact, the major task before his campaign managers and thousands of youths who constitute his structure is to enlighten uneducated voters on how to identify the logo of the party on February 25, 2023, since his face will not be on the ballot paper.
Not so for Atiku and Tinubu, whose parties’ logos are known to every Nigerian, young and old, educated and uneducated – in urban centres and in hamlets across the country.
Obi needs every opportunity to market himself and his programmes to Nigerians, wherever and in whatever way such an opportunity may come. He cannot afford the luxury of choosing the events to attend and the ones to boycott, especially for the flimsy reason that others are not attending.
If an invitation comes for him to attend a presidential debate organized by a university student’s union, he mustn’t turn down such an invitation because Atiku and Tinubu are not going to be there.
The Labour Party candidate is in the race to win, just as the other 17 candidates, including those not mentioned in national discourse. One of his key selling points is the fact that he is an embodiment of humility in all its ramifications.
Boycotting an event he desperately needs because he does not want to be belittled by the absence of his co-contestants would be tantamount to embarking on an ego trip for which he is not known, which would certainly not work in his favour.
Ukpaukure, a media consultant, lives in Lagos
