Barely a week after announcing his boycott of the presidential debate organised by Nigeria Election Debate Group (NDEG) and Broadcast Organisation of Nigeria (BON), the All Progressives Congress (APC) presidential candidate, General Muhammadu Buhari has opted not to participate in a similar debate organised by Channels TV, Arise TV and the Newspaper Proprietors Association of Nigeria (NPAN)
The Buhari campaign organisation made the disclosure on Monday, February 2, 2015 by its Director of Strategy, Dele Alake on a morning show on Channels TV.
Alake alleged that some debate organisers were not independent enough, although he failed to mention which media houses he believed was not transparent.
The Director of Media of the APC presidential campaign, Garba Shehu has reacted to the widespread criticism occasioned by General Buhari saying: “What is the hullabaloo about GMB not attending a debate organised by elements that have shown unhidden bias towards his person, family, career and political interest? Shehu queried adding ”it is on record that the man (Buhari) had participated in previous presidential debates in 2007 and 2011 respectively, which the PDP candidate did not attend.
“The APC and General Buhari have received several media invitations to the presidential election from different organisations and the party is still vetting the ones to attend, due to time constraints and motive of the organisers.”
