2023: APC Alleges Compromise Over Town Hall Debates, Restates Stance On Tinubu’s Participation

Following a series of reactions emanating from the 2023 presidential debate organized by Arise TV, some political parties and opponents have not stopped pointing and indicting fingers at the organizers and their counterparts over deliberate compromise.

The Media and Communication Directorates of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Presidential Campaign Council (PCC), led by by Dele Alake and Bayo Onanuga on Tuesday, said the Arise TV town hall debate is designed by Chairman and Editor-in-Chief of THISDAY and Arise News Television, Nduka Obaigbena to embarrass Tinubu, the flagbearer of the APC.

The duo made the remarks in a statement they jointly signed as a response to Obaigbena’s latest comment, Onanuga and Alake alleged that the Arise TV’s town hall meetings are sponsored by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

“In his first statement attacking us, Obaigbena craftily attempted to mischaracterize as an attack on mischaracterizing principled stand against his blackmail to have Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu appear on Arise TV and its PDP sponsored Town Hall meetings,” the statement reads.

The statement partly reads, “In the second statement, he was still adamant that our candidate must attend his town hall debate, despite our stance that our candidate is already executing another communications strategy to reach the most important target: the Nigerian voters.

“We, repeat: We will not make our candidate available to validate a scheme which, in the light of unassailable information at our disposal, is nothing but a racket by the Arise TV owner, designed to embarrass our candidate.”