By Adedayo Akinwale in Abuja.<\/p>\n
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The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has challenged President Muhammadu Buhari\u00a0to a live one-on-one debate with its presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, on critical sectors ahead of the 2019 presidential election.<\/p>\n
The PDP, in a statement Sunday by its National Publicity Secretary, Mr. Kola Ologbondiyan, also berated Buhari for neglecting the troops fighting in the North-east and reneging on his promise to \u201clead the fight from the front\u201d, resulting in the vulnerability and \u201ckilling of our soldiers by insurgents\u201d.<\/p>\n
The main opposition party challenged Buhari to explain why he has been insensitive to the killing of citizens and soldiers by marauders and insurgents, particularly given allegations that he has been distracting the Armed Forces by dragging them to participate in his re-election campaign.<\/p>\n
According to him, \u201cNigerians recall that at the time our troops were being attacked by insurgents, our service chiefs were attending the launch of President Buhari\u2019s \u2018Next Level\u2019 campaign mantra, stolen from a foreign institute.\u201d<\/p>\n
The party noted that Buhari has been mortally afraid of facing its candidate, Atiku in a general debate organised by independent bodies.<\/p>\n
Ologbondiyan said: \u201cFor this, the PDP grants him the liberty to choose a venue, date and time convenient to him to face our candidate before a neutral panel.<\/p>\n
\u201cPresident Buhari must face Atiku Abubakar in person, as Nigerians are not ready to accept any representation, whosoever, from him. If, as a Commander-In-Chief, Mr. President cannot face a political debate, how then can he vigorously engage international competitors?\u201d<\/p>\n
Ologbondiyan added that Nigerians can now see why the country has been under peril in the last three and a half years.<\/p>\n
He stressed that Buhari should be ready to face his failures and avail Nigerians of his sectoral performance scorecards, as well as present his future blueprint, if any, \u201cto enable the electorate to weigh him alongside our presidential candidate\u201d.<\/p>\n
The PDP said that Buhari came to power through false promises and propaganda, adding that now, the day of reckoning has come and he cannot run away from his failures.<\/p>\n
\u201cOn our part, our candidate is ready to face President Buhari, one-on-one. He has his scorecard in governance and his blueprint for national rebirth; wealth creation, youth empowerment and building a prosperous nation, which has become dominant among the aspirations of Nigerians,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
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