Bola Ahmed Tinubu, the All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate, has been challenged by Peoples Democratic Party’s presidential candidate Atiku Abubakar to participate in a one-hour television interview.
Atiku’s remarks follow criticism of his most recent interview with Arise Television by the Tinubu campaign group, which referred to him as a “specialist in lying.”
Read Also: Tinubu Replies Atiku: You Are A Pathological Liar Over 2007 ACN Ticket
In his response issued on Saturday, July 23, by his Media Adviser, Paul Ibe, Atiku challenged Tinubu to participate in an hour-long interview, saying that it would be a good chance to assess whether he was as intelligent and mentally sound as the former vice president.
The statement read;
We were rather amused to read the knee-jerk response from the Tinubu Campaign Organisation to the wave-making interview granted by Waziri Atiku Abubakar to Arise TV on Thursday, July 21, 2022.
Amusement, because we expected this. Mr. Tinubu has not sat down to do any prolonged interview for obvious reasons. Nigerians have seen him talk in public and can themselves gauge the reason why he is mortified to do so.
Nevertheless, I will now take the issues in their statement one after the other.
The Tinubu campaign exposed its gross desperation and vacuousness by citing the provisions of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (as amended) 1999, to declare Waziri Atiku Abubakar’s stance on engaging in a side business while he was a young customs officer as a breach of the law. It is pertinent to educate the Tinubu campaign organisation that Nigeria is not under a military regime and our Constitutions are not retroactive in nature.
On Zoning, Educational Certificates
The Atiku Media Team further berated Tinubu over its stance on zoning while challenging him to present his educational achievements.
It seems the Tinubu campaign organisation (can a disorganised body be called an organisation?) does not know the meaning of rotation of power and micro zoning. So, we will gladly educate them. Rotation of power refers to a constitutional provision where power is zoned between North and South. Micro-zoning refers to a non constitutional idea, where power is zoned not between North and South, but amongst geo-political zones. We hope this cures the political illiteracy of the authors of that document.
The rude response also accuses Waziri Atiku Abubakar of having “limited education”. Atiku Abubakar has an earned Masters degree from Anglia Ruskin University. We challenge any of the present Presidential candidates to present an equal or higher degree. Moreover, his university attendance is a matter of verified record. Can we say the same about some other persons?
In conclusion, we would like to challenge Bola Tinubu to subject himself to an hour long interview, like the Waziri did, and if he is able to be as articulate and mentally present as our candidate, then he can talk. Until then, we will only want to remind him and his yes men that they are not in a position to point fingers when they have not sat on the hot seat.
