From Charity Nwakaudu, Abuja
Presidential candidate of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) Dumebi Kachikwu has said that it is time for upcoming politicians, adding that the presidential debate is biased and its processes are flawed.
Addressing newsmen in Abuja, Kachikwu said the fact that participants for presidential debates are selected based on polls, was a biased method.
He stressed that all the candidates need to be on the podium to debate and share their ideas, adding that Nigerians can only vote for those they know.
He said, “I think the organisers of the presidential debates need to get their acts together. If they continue to sell this narrative where they want to position certain people and say those are the people who want to come for a debate, Nigerians will no longer tolerate that.
“They announced that they are going to select four candidates based on polls, and that is a flawed process because if it is based on polls, the polls will only throb those who Nigerians have known for the last two decades and that is not fair.
“When you look at the field, there are about 18 people running the presidential race. We have the old brigade, and we have a bunch of new people who are stepping up and want to run.
“So in the last 10, 20 years you’ve heard about these people because they’ve manned the affairs of this country either as state governors, ministers and vice presidential candidates.
“You know about these people, they have brand name recognition, but they also have a brand name recognition of failure, having failed to deliver the dividends of democracy and failed to perform in offices that they’ve held.
“But they are now saying they want to do the debate based on polls of who the people already know. Of course, Nigerians know these four people, they’ve been in the media for the last two decades, so Nigerians know them.
“You need to give the opportunity to those who would step up now for Nigerians to see these people. The media has been doing a good job actually giving opportunities to these candidates for people to know them.
“How are Nigerians going to vote for people they haven’t heard of? You need to put all the candidates on that podium, and let them debate and share their ideas. We have people who have two eyes in this country, and we need to project them.”