IT was like another rally for the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) yesterday as President Goodluck Jonathan appeared for the presidential debate organised by the Nigeria Election Debate Group (NEDG).
At the event, the president declared support for the Freedom of Information Bill. He observed that the bill had not got to him, adding that he would sign it into law as soon as it got to his table.
However, the debate was like a monologue just like the day Vice President Namadi appeared as presidential candidates of the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC), Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) and his All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP) boycotted the debate.
Security was tight at the Transcorp Hilton Hotel, Abuja, venue of the debate unlike previous days when vice presidential and some presidential candidates of other parties participated.
Almost all the cabinet ministers, acting chairman of the PDP and other top officials of the party were present to give support to the president.
Quite against the rules of the debate which stipulate that there would be no applause or any manner of interjection from the audience, there were some moments of applause from the audience mostly made up of the members of the PDP . The military band ushered the president in and also took the national anthem.
Jonathan explained that he could not attend the presidential debate organised by NN24 because he was out of the country and only came back the day the debate took place.
According to him, apart from communication gap, a sitting president does not have the luxury to attend multiple debates and that the medium which organised the debate does not have a wide reach .
He stated that he was in the race for the post of the president because he was the best material for the position and that he was committed to transforming the country if given the opportunity.
Jonathan noted that he was for the unity of the country and would ensure that no Nigerian citizen was discriminated against.
The president said that he would ensure an equitable distribution of resources and would not make any policy that would place one ethnic group above the other.
Source: Jonathan pledges to sign FoI Bill into law (http://www.ngrguardiannews.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=43321:jonathan-pledges-to-sign-foi-bill-into-law&catid=1:national&Itemid=559)