Debate: I didn’t ask for questions in advance – Jonathan

Ahead of the presidential debate slated for today (Tuesday) by the Broadcasting Organisation of Nigeria, President Goodluck Jonathan on Monday denied asking for questions in advance, the reason advanced by some candiadtes to boycott the debate. He said he never asked for likely questions as a precondition for his participation in any presidential debate. He spoke through the Deputy Director-General of his Campaign Organisation and former Minister of Foreign Affairs, Chief Ojo Maduekwe, and former presidential aide, Dr. Doyin Okupe, during a visit to the Transcorp Hilton Hotel, venue of the debate to ascertain the preparedness of the organisers. Speaking with journalists, Maduekwe said, “It is unfortunate if anyone could make that kind of suggestion that the President asked for advance questions. “It is my opinion that if you want to be a president, you must respect the office. The office is bigger than whoever occupies it. If it is bigger than who occupies it, then it is even much bigger than those who want to occupy it. “Comments that are intended to denigrate the president denigrate all of us even if we are not in support of Jonathan. To suggest that the president of Nigeria, a university scholar and a don will want to see questions in advance before he engages in debate is the height of vile propaganda masquerading as politics. Can I say categorically there was no such thing.” Scoring the organisers high, Maduekwe said there was no need changing the organisers of an event, who had performed creditably in the past. He also underscored the need for the debate, saying Nigerians “need to make an informed choice. Our democratic journey needs to continually improve and this is an opportunity for us to benchmark that improvement.’’ Maduekwe also urged political parties not to use the debate as an opportunity to get at each other by making inciting and provocative comments. Explaining the Jonathan and Vice President Namadi Sambo’s preference to participate in the BON debate to the one organised by NN24, he said it was due to the capacity of the audience it could reach and the expected impact. He said, “We should be united on the need for Nigeria to have a platform that they are familiar with and has the widest reach because ultimately what this seek to achieve is the widening of democratic space; but we cannot achieve this if the platform that is being used does not have the kind of reach the previous organiser had. We have to be moving forward and not backward”. He said no aide of any sitting president will advise him to go to a debate with a mindset. To him, candidates of other political parties could say things that are not correct and not supported by facts and it will be gloss over adding, but definitely not a sitting president. “Presidents don’t just come and speak without adequate preparation. What a president says can have a serious consequence,” he said. By Friday Olokor, Abuja Courtesy Of: PUnch