Why Presidential Candidates Must Debate

Last Saturday, the Nigerian Election Debate Group (NEDG) and Broadcasting Organisations of Nigeria (BON) held a debate for presidential candidates of some political parties for the 2019 elections without the participation of the incumbent President, Muhammadu Buhari of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and the candidate of the main opposition party, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Alhaji Atiku Abubakar. The group had earlier on December 14, 2018, held a debate for the vice presidential candidates of the selected parties in the election, which aroused a lot of interest of Nigerians in the February and March polls.
Although Atiku Abubakar and some other candidates had earlier indicated their readiness to participate in the debate, Muhammadu Buhari, had subtly shown indications he would skip the debate. and true to speculations, he did.
There is no gainsaying the fact that interesting televised debate of the pre-2011 presidential election involving Muhammadu Buhari of the then Congress for Political Change, Mallam Nuhu Ribadu of the then Action Congress of Nigeria and Mallam Ibrahim Shekarau of the then All Nigerian Peoples Party, showed it was one culture that was gradually taking root in Nigeria.
The Tide thinks that the issues in this year’s presidential election are many and the major candidates ought to talk through them in a debate for the people to make an informed choice. However, incumbent Presidents have largely ignored the opportunities provided by the platform for the parties and Nigerians. Unfortunately, what should ordinarily excite the people has rather exuded huge indifference, because the average Nigerian politician, especially at the presidential level is always avoiding debates. And the reason is simple: they hardly can understand the issues let alone able to sell them.
The very essence of such debates is to identify a candidate with the competence and sanity to promote, protect and defend the national interest, which is the very reason a nation exists. The purpose of an election campaign debate is to give candidates a chance to share their views and attract possible voters. There is no over-estimating the importance and value of debates in any electoral process. They expose the intuitive and cognitive skills and capacities of the candidates. They help the candidates to set their own agenda as well as analyse their strengths and weaknesses. They expose the attitudinal dispositions of the candidates in different ways. They allow the people to know their candidates well and better. They increase the knowledge of the people on issues defining the election. They enrich the electoral process and make the eventual choice deserving of their votes. The advantages are legion and cannot be glossed over.
But when leaders start to avoid debates, then, the electoral culture of such a people is doomed. It is true that a person can’t give what he/she doesn’t have. But why seek to give what you don’t have? These are the abnormalities that presidential debates, or any debates at all, unearth and take care of. And except Nigerians begin to embrace this critical culture with huge impact in the choice of leaders, to even begin to discuss progress and development is impossible, because they cannot even stand before Nigerians to define what development is.
With a good understanding of the role presidential debates had played in virtually all of United States elections since 1960, save for the 2016 election, the culture of debate has unarguably become an integral part of the US electoral tradition, which even in the face of certain reservations, cannot be taken for granted. Many other developed societies, including the United Kingdom in 2010, have also etched this culture into their electoral tradition.
There is no debating the importance of giving voters the opportunity to hear candidates discuss and debate key issues prior to elections. Although there have been controversies on the role of presidential debates in modern election cycles particularly, if the current format of debates helps or hurts the very objective, no stronger argument has, so far been advanced on why debates should not hold.
Yes, election debates could reinforce partisan positions, with partisans merely becoming more critical in their choice. However, one thing has not been taken away from the culture of debates in a presidential bout and it is the fact that it is helpful in decision-making for undecided voters. The run-up to this year’s elections has been paved with many intrigues and familiar political shenanigans, and the level of fluidity and uncertainty are almost inestimable. This is why Nigerians must insist on presidential debates in subsequent election cycles and every intending candidate must be ready to defend his or her policy agenda.
Unfortunately, majority of Nigerians play to bigotry and primordial sentiments. Regrettably, the vast majority of Nigerians have no access to television and electricity, the culture of televised presidential debates has crept in and should be warmly embraced. Even so, we think that going forward, presidential candidates must debate their opponents to give the Nigerian electorate ample opportunity to decide who to vote for, given their policy positions.