A chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and immediate past Commissioner for Works in Lagos State, Ganiyu Johnson, has told the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) that debate on live television does not win elections.
According to him, debates would not determine who would win the 2019 presidential elections in Nigeria.
Johnson made this comment at an interactive session with journalists in Lagos on Sunday.
The APC chieftain spoke against the backdrop of the debate between vice-presidential candidates of five political parties on Saturday and the upcoming Presidential debate scheduled for January 19.
The debates were put together by the Nigeria Election Debate Group, NEDG, and the Broadcasting Organisation of Nigeria, BON.
Reacting, Johnson, who recently resigned to run as the All Progressives Congress, APC, House of Representatives candidate for Oshodi Isolo II Federal Constituency, said: “Debates are good for the enlightened, but you cannot use it to judge.
“Most of the viewers are not voters. You can make statistical judgment from it, but it doesn’t affect results or show voting patterns.
“How many market women or ordinary Nigerians tuned in for the debate?
“The elites who did are the ones crediting or discrediting the contestants based on their affiliations and these group of Nigerians hardly vote. Their criticisms and choices end on the internet.
“This is not to say that such debates are bad as it gives an idea of the performances of the present administration and an opportunity for the opposition parties to tell Nigerians who watch and the International community what they could have done differently.
“In this case, it was obvious that there is no alternative to the present administration, having watched the debate and realising that no other party has better plans than the APC.
“It is the elites that are exaggerating what is not. If you benchmark us today, you will see that our performance is so high in spite of the fact that we met the problems we are tackling.
“We met 16 years of rot, and we have tried to contain them and move the country forward. APC will take Nigeria, not only to the next level but the desired level.”
