Ribadu challenges Jonathan to debate
The presidential candidate of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), Nuhu Ribadu, has challenged the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) candidate, President Goodluck Jonathan, to a debate. Mr. Ribadu, who made the remarks in a release made available to NEXT by its campaign organisation yesterday, said that since 1999, PDP presidential candidates had been shying away from debates because they had nothing to offer, adding that the present state of the nation was a clear testimony to the fact that PDP had no meaningful agenda for the nation.
Mr. Ribadu said that in spite of the fact that the price of crude oil had been selling well above the benchmark price, the PDP-controlled government had not been able to address the critical issues of power and poverty in the country.
Acoording to the ACN flag-bearer, President Jonathan, a Ph.D holder, should be bold enough to face Nigerians to tell them what plans he has for the nation and how he intends to implement such plans. He said gone were the days when politicians would mount the soap box to make empty promises which would eventually leave the country in a worse state than they met it. Mr. Ribadu, however, said that as a presidential candidate, he had well-articulated and thought-out plans that he was ready to defend before Nigerians. It was reported recently that the PDP had given a condition for the hosting of a presidential debate among the different candidates vying for the presidential seat, which had caused a setback in the conduct of the debate.
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