Why Nigerian politicians don’t like public debate – Atiku’s aide

Demola Olarewaju, an aide to Atiku Abubakar, Nigeria’s former vice president and the PDP presidential candidate in the 2023 election, has said that many Nigerian politicians do not engage in public debate because they consider it a waste of time.

He said Nigerian politicians do not think that debate can help them to win an election.

Mr Olarewaju, Atiku’s special adviser on digital media strategy, stated this on Saturday when he appeared as a guest on News Central Television.

He commented on the country’s politicians refusing to participate in election debates and signing a peace accord.

“I think there’s a difference in perspective when it comes to elections in Nigeria. Some of us who are elite, we might expect things like debates,” Mr Olarewaju said.

“But the fact is, the person who is sitting in Aso Rock (Nigeria’s seat of government) today did not participate in any debate in 2023,” he said, in apparent reference to President Bola Tinubu who, as the APC presidential candidate, had refused to sign the peace accord during that the 2023 election.

“And so, the average Nigerian politician is considering, is it not a waste of my time to engage in debates in Nigeria?” Mr Olarewaju added.

The PDP and its governorship candidate in the Edo 2024 election had refused to sign the peace accord, which would have made the party commit itself, like other parties, to a peaceful election.

This development prompted Mathew Hassan Kukah, the Catholic bishop of Sokoto Diocese and convener of the National Peace Committee, to make reference to Mr Tinubu’s refusal to sign the peace accord in 2023.

“The National Peace Committee, what we do is not in the Electoral Act, it’s not law; it’s moral. You can’t compel people to fall in love or love their neighbours,” Mr Kukah said.

‘Come to the debate’

Atiku’s aide, Mr Olarewaju, said for candidates not to participate in debates “does not mean that they have not been selling themselves at the grassroots”.

“It does not mean that the people (in their mind) do not know what the various candidates stand for,” he said.

“I think what matters in Nigerian politics, or what is being shown to matter most in Nigerian politics, is simply how these people endear themselves at the grassroots. How they are able to capture or sell themselves to the grassroots, and not whether they participate in debates or whether they sign the peace accord.”

However, Mr Olarewaju said he subscribes to debate. “Come to the debate. Let us know who you are. Let Nigerians see you more and more,” he said.

“But unfortunately for us, we live in a Nigeria where these things often do not matter in the long run. I mean, we’ve seen candidates who presented themselves beautifully in debates and presented their manifestos well, and everyone agreed these were good candidates. But at the end of the day, in the field, the person who did not attend the manifesto presentation programme, the person who does not even have a manifesto is the one who eventually wins.”