The Bola Tinubu campaign organisation says its presidential candidate has the constitutional right to choose which platform to share his views. 

In a statement issued on Saturday, Bayo Onanuga, spokesperson of the campaign organisation, reiterated that Tinubu would not be attending Arise TV town hall meeting.

On November 25, the broadcast media announced that its third presidential town hall series would hold on December 4, with four presidential candidates expected to attend.

Tinubu campaign organisation reacted to the announcement with fierce criticism and accused the media house of failing to communicate before broadcasting the invite.

The campaign organisation also warned Arise TV against using its candidate’s photograph in advertisements for the town hall.

In response, Arise TV refused to pull down the image and name of the APC candidate while adding that all public office aspirants must “respond to questions from independent journalists”. The media house quoted section 22 of the 1999 Constitution of Nigeria.

Reacting to the development, the Tinubu campaign described Arise TV’s persistence as “blackmail, intimidation and media bullying”. It added that Tinubu has headed to the UK, where he would be speaking on security, economy and foreign policy at Chatham House.

“We find it shocking and downright anomalous that Arise News continues to broadcast the participation of All Progressives Congress Presidential Candidate, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu in its Presidential Town Hall meeting scheduled to hold on 4 December, 2022 despite our earlier statement that our candidate will not be available,” the statement reads.

“We noticed that Arise News has also been running a campaign on the so-called constitutional duty of the presidential candidates to participate in its debate by dubiously citing section 22 of the Constitution of Nigeria on the obligation of the Mass Media.

“While it is trite that the media has a clear constitutional duty to hold public office holders accountable to the citizens and its role as the watchdog of the society, there is no part of the Constitution and the section 22 that says a presidential candidate of any political party and least of all, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu must participate in Arise News Town Hall event or any media organised event at all.

“The same Constitution grants all citizens of Nigeria including, Asiwaju Tinubu the right and freedom of choice and association. The APC presidential candidate has a right to decide where he goes and events to participate in as he seeks the mandate of Nigerians to be elected as the next President of our country.

“We want to make it abundantly clear again that Asiwaju Tinubu will not participate and will not attend the Arise News Town Hall meeting slated for Sunday, 4 December, 2022 and any other ones it may plan before the February 2023 presidential election.

“The APC presidential candidate has his own schedule of campaign activities and other engagements within and outside Nigeria. One of such events is his scheduled event for Monday, December 5, 2022, at Chatham House in London where he will speak on Security, Economy and Foreign Policy.

Asiwaju Tinubu travelled to United Kingdom early today (Saturday) for this earlier scheduled engagement. We want to reiterate for the umpteenth time that no amount of blackmail, intimidation and media bully and innuendos by the owner and management of Arise News will change the position our campaign has taken on this matter.”

The campaign organisation also warned Arise TV against using its candidate’s photograph in advertisements for the town hall.

Racoon:

This is the same bloody hypocritical Tinubu and his team that were involved in an identity theft of young Donald Duke's childhood photos while shamelessly passing it for Tinubu's without any remorse or apology

Aufbauh:
So you're still crying about this? Donald Duke has moved on from this inanity. That's what great men does, but petty men & peasants always stick to innuendoes.

Aufbauh:


So you're still crying about this?
Donald Duke has moved on from this inanity.
That's what great men does, but petty men & peasants always stick to innuendoes.

Racoon:
You must be a stranger humanity to imagine that such a crime as a blatant case of identity theft is a wish away or can be taken lying low in a sane civilised world. It is just a monumental disgrace.

As a myopic person, you will never know the damage this shamelessness have added to Bola Tinubu crimes of dubious geneology, drug running, certificate scandals, fraudulent source of wealth, Alpha-Beta corruption scandal, fake mental health state among many in the global community.

Cantonese:

Rallies do not afford the citizens the opportunity to ask the candidates questions directly. Rallies are opportunities for politicians to tell the people lies and deceive them. APC did it in 2015, repeated it in 2019 and here they have started with their bogus promises again, through BAT at his rallies.

Aufbauh:
Odiegwu! Honestly I can't pick anything reasonable from this your incoherent conjecture.The only thing i could hardly understand is the usual rhetoric of lumping up inconsistent inanities & vain blabbing.

The worst of your bitter condition is that you're even crying more than the bereaved & also claimed to know the merit of the case more than the supposedly plaintiff.

Aufbauh:
Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu the Master strategist is always ahead of his traducers.

Cantonese:
The signs of Buhari’s incapabilities and medical conditions before 2015 were very clear. Infact Ayo Fayose kept ringing the alarm bell, but the desire of Tinubu and APC to force GEJ out of office, by all means possible, aided by Nigerians like you, beclouded everyone’s sense of reasoning. The result is what Nigerians, including BAT and PMB, face today.

.

Racoon:
No law says presidential candidates must attend your town hall, Tinubu campaign replies Arise TV

https://www.thecable.ng/no-law-compels-presidential-candidates-to-attend-your-town-hall-tinubu-campaign-replies-arise-tv/amp

Racoon:
No candidate for the presidency of Nigeria has ever come into the campaign with much political baggage as Tinubu, not even Muhammadu Buhari. We can find in three folds everything wrong with Muhammadu Buhari in Bola Tinubu.

Aufbauh:
Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu the Master strategist is always ahead of his traducers.

Aufbauh:


It's always tiring engaging you guys cos of your closed-minded & one-way disposition to fact.
So TV debates are more effective and efficient than community engagement in rallies? Smh!

You guys seems to have overrated this electronic media (TV programme) most especially the cable network that reach out to not more than 10-15% of the populace.

FYI, majority of the voters who are in the rural areas can hardly access or analyze cable network programmes,so stop being naive.

Besides PMB has shown us in recent past that you can equally do without TV debates and still win the election.