2023 election: NESG, NEDG cancels presidential debate for Tinubu, Obi, Atiku, others

The Nigerian Economic Summit Group (NESG) on Thursday cancelled the planned debate for presidential candidates in the 2023 election.

NESG CEO Laoye Jaiyeola who announced the cancellation in a statement said the decision was due to ‘prevailing circumstances’.

“We sincerely apologise for any inconvenience this decision may cause our stakeholders and all Nigerians.”

Jaiyeola said the NESG and Nigerian Elections Debate Group (NEDG) took the decision after “a critical assessment of events surrounding recent engagements with the presidential candidates, as well as subsequent statements from political parties.”

Presidential candidates of the All Progressives Congress (APC) Bola Tinubu, Labour party’s Peter Obi, and Atiku Abubakar of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) were among the leading contenders scheduled for the debate.

The APC earlier this week indicated that Tinubu might not honour invitations for debates with other presidential candidates.

APC presidential campaign spokesman Festus Keyamo said Tinubu’s ‘hectic campaign schedule’ will not permit him to be part of the debates.

Keyamo said Tinubu did not attend a presidential town hall meeting with other candidates on Sunday because he received a lot of invitations from television and radio stations and it will be unfair to any of the broadcast houses if he attended.

Director General of the Labour Party’s Campaign Organisation, Doyin Okupe, said Peter Obi will no longer show up for debates if his counterparts in other parties do not show up.

While the debate will no longer hold, Jaiyeola said “the NESG will actively seek independent direct engagements with the candidates on critical economic policy reform issues and prescriptions.”

Jaiyeola noted that NESG envisions a Nigeria where election debates are an integral part of the electoral process, and candidates are eager to engage citizens in discussions about their mandates, experience, ability, capacity, knowledge, and overall competence for the positions they seek.

“We remain committed to providing a platform for such engagements in the national interest.”