The presidential candidates, who expressed their displeasure with the attitude of the APC candidates towards public invitations, protested against the decision of the flag-bearer of the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC to send a representative at a state of the nation dialogue that was convened by the Nigerian Bar Association, NBA on Monday in Abuja.
Tinubu, who was absent at the event, was represented by a member of the APC Presidential campaign Council, Hassan Liman, SAN, who spoke on his behalf.
The occasion provided the presidential candidates in attendance the opportunity to speak on how they intend to tackle the current security, economic and political challenges facing the nation.
The action of the APC standard bearer was frowned at by the candidates, including the Zenith Labour Party, ZLP, candidate, Dan Nwanyanwu, who maintained that it was wrong to allow a non presidential candidate to speak at the forum.
“I thank the NBA for this invitation, but I believe that the intendment was not for any presidential candidate to and any one to come and represent him to speak with other presidential candidates.
“I cancelled all my appointments to be here. I don’t think that it will be right for us to have a placeholder for anyone. Nigeria is no t growing simply because we are not obeying rules. You have a right to come or not to come.
“I am only going ahead to speak here because of the respect I have for the NBA as a body”, Nwanyanwu fumed.
On his plans, the ZLP candidate said his administration will deploy technology to tackle the issue of insecurity, insisting that there are many ungoverned spaces in the country that ought to be secured.
“Today people are killed, raped and nothing happens. Insecurity is all over the country and every part is feeling it. I will have a total overhaul of the entire security architecture”, he stated, adding, “we have to unite the country and build trust”.
In the same vein, the presidential candidate of the African Action Congress, AAC, Omoyele Sowore, slammed the APC flag-bearer over his absence at the dialogue session.
He said: “You can see that those of us that are present here today are the real candidates.
“At least you can judge for yourselves whether some of us will fall asleep so that you can compare us with the old candidates”.
Sowore, who regretted that the current security arrangement in the country is tailored towards the protection of elites, noted that Tinubu’s representative, Liman, SAN, was the one that appeared as government prosecutor when he was tried on trumped up charges that bordered on cyber bullying.
In his response, Tinubu’s representative, Liman, SAN, apologised for the absence of the APC flag-bearer.
According to him, “Tinubu’s absence here today is not out of disrespect for the NBA but for certain reasons beyond his control.
“It was because he did not want to leave the seat empty, that is why he sent me to represent him as the Director Legal of the Presidential Council. Tinubu respects all the presidential candidates”, he added.
He said the APC candidate will upon his assumption into office, embark on massive recruitment for both the police and the Army.
Also at the event were presidential candidate of the Action Alliance (A A), Hamza Al-Mustapha, Dumebi Kachukwu of the African Democratic Congress, ADC; Sani Yusuf of Action Democratic Party, ADP; Prof Peter Umeadi of All Progressives Grand Alliance, APGA, and Prince Adewole Adebayo of Social Democratic Party, SDP.
Alhaji Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, and Peter Obi of the Labour Party, LP, were however absent and not represented.