PRESIDENTIAL DEBATE: WHY ATIKU AND BUHARI DID NOT SHOW UP

Should Atiku have participated in the presidential debate?

There are good reasons why he should have. And there are reasons why they failed to show up. Let’s discuss.

Before we weigh the options, let us clarify something. The presidential debate is not just a debating contest between students. It is a political campaign process. You are out there to defeat the political rival that poses a threat, and not to humor those who pose no threat to you.

At the same time, the debate has the element of drama and entertainment and it placed millions of people in suspense as they waited to see the performance by the actors. Disappointing those millions is not a wise move.

The incumbent President  is usually the one that hates the debate because much of it will be about his mistakes in the past. The debate will end up a discussion about his failures. The new candidates will focus on pointing out the shortcomings of the incumbent administration. For that reason, Buhari didn’t want to appear. If he had appeared, the opposition candidates would have slaughtered him because his performance would be poor. The debate would reduce him by highlighting his shortcomings. His shortcomings include his inability to articulate well. (In Delta State, he called the Gubernatorial candidate “the presidential candidate” of his own party. When corrected, he then called him the “senatorial candidate” before finally getting it right). It would have been a disaster for him to be in the debate.

Atiku would have done well in the debate, but only if Buhari had appeared. Atiku’s campaign is basically saying that he would do better than Buhari. Without Buhari, his argument would be weak. The campaign of the other candidates is that they would do better than Buhari and Atiku. They would naturally gang up against the two men who had been in the government in the past and who failed in the past. Without Buhari there to share in the blame, Atiku would be clobbered by the younger and more articulate candidates. So, for the same reason Buhari ran, Atiku also ran.

Everybody lost something and gained something from the way the debate went. Buhari gained by avoiding what would have been a slaughter. He gained more than he lost. People are just cynical about his absence instead of laughing and mocking him for what would have been several gafes and blunders.

Atiku also escaped what would have been a gang-up by the younger and more articulate candidates. He would have been the default target had he appeared without Buhari. But what did Atiku lose? Quite a lot. He lost the opportunity to show that he has far superior experience than the rest. He lost the opportunity of selling his privatization ideas. He lost the opportunity of explaining how he would be better if elected. He lost the opportunity of selling himself to sceptical Nigerians. He lost quite a lot.

The other candidates gained more time to sell themselves. The 3 shared the time meant for 5. So more airtime for each. However, they lost the opportunity to lock horns with the President and his main rival. They needed such opportunity to establish themselves for the future. Instead of them to to show that they could do better than the past leaders, instead of a competition between the ancient and modern leaders, it became more of an academic debate among 3 future leaders. The absence of Buhari and Atiku changed the debate. It was no longer a debate for the election of next month, but more of a debate about future elections.

In the end, it is fair to say that even though the two main candidates did not show up, their failure will not affect the electoral chances of those candidates that showed up.

Finally, we must observe that Buhari and Atiku failed to appreciate that the world is changing fast. People need to hear and watch the candidates they are yo vote for. Presidential debates are now very important attribute of presidential elections. It is no longer acceptable for parties to field candidates that cannot face the people in a debate. Also, failure to appear in such debates is an insult on the people who had been led to believe the candidates would appear.

The question is: can Nigerians shock Buhari and Atiku and let them know they are unaccountable to Nigerians and not to themselves?