The Presidential Candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, who was noticeably absent at the presidential town hall meeting last night, was spotted at a birthday party held close to the venue.
It would be recalled that the town hall meeting hosted by Arise TV was held on Sunday night, November 6, in Abuja ahead of the forthcoming general election in February 2023.
However, only three presidential aspirants were physically present at the meeting including Labour Party’s Peter Obi, NNPP’s Rabiu Kwankwaso and PRP’s Kola Abiola, while PDP’s Atiku Abubakar was represented by his running mate, Ifeanyi Okowa.
Shortly after the meeting began and people started asking about Tinubu’s whereabout, a video of him at a birthday party surfaced online.
The birthday party was that of his associate, retired colonel Sani Bello, held about eight minutes drive from the venue of the presidential town hall meeting.
Amid the brouhaha caused by his absence, his spokesperson, Festus Keyamo, released an official statement where he said Tinubu can’t attend all events because he has a tight schedule.
Read the full statement below,
“Firstly, many radio and TV networks in Nigeria have indicated interests to host such debates and out of deference to other TV and radio stations, our candidate will not be making selective appearances in some networks, whilst ignoring others.
As President of Nigeria, by the Special Grace of God, he intends to treat all persons and businesses fairly and equally.
Secondly, the busy and hectic campaign schedules of Asiwaju Tinubu will not permit him to honour all such invitations by different radio and TV networks, hence our decision for him not to start with one TV station and later ignore others.
Thirdly, our candidate had long before now realised the importance of speaking directly to Nigerians and shortly after unfolding his Action Plan as President embarked on Town Hall meetings beginning with his interaction with the Business Community and other stakeholders in Kano followed by the Town Hall meeting and presentation by experts last week in Lagos. Tomorrow, he will be interacting with Agro and Commodity Groups in Minna, Niger State.”
Watch the video below,
