Admin l Saturday, Jan. 19, 2019
LAGOS, Nigeria – Presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, (PDP), Alhaji Atiku Abubakar has stormed out of the ongoing presidential debate in Abuja. Atiku flew into Abuja this afternoon from the United States in preparation for the debate, but left for undisclosed reasons.
When the debate started with the opening remarks, Atiku was not featured on screen. Only three candidates, Dr. Obi Ezekwesili, of the Allied Congress of Nigeria(ACPN), Dr. Oby Ezekwesili, Professor Kingsley Moghalu of the Young Progressive Party (YPP)and Fela Durotoye of the AAN were beamed to the Nigerian audience.
Shortly after the break, the moderator notified the audience that Atiku had left.
“You look at the podium, we have space for candidates of the Peoples Democratic Party(PDP) Atiku Abubakar and that of the All Progressive Congress(APC), but they are not here. Atiku was in the hall but in the last minutes decided not to appear”, he said.
Reno Omokri, aide of former president of Nigeria, Dr. Goodluck Ebele Jonathan gave this explanation after his exit from the debate.
- renoomokriAtiku Abubakar flew for 12 hours after a gruelling but rewarding trip to the US. He arrived at the Congress Hall of the Transcorp Hilton only to find that President Buhari was not there. He was there physically and ready to take part in #2019Debate, but his participation will not make sense if Buhari chickened out. So has Atiku just left the Hilton venue of #2019Debate. You can imagine his disappointment. He flew back. He did not rest. He rushed from the airport to have a shower and a change of clothes. And then he was there physically. What excuse does Buhari have for not shushing up? None!