Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar yesterday asked President Goodluck Jonathan to present himself for intra-party presidential debate without setting any preconditions.
Atiku, while reacting to the President's acceptance of his repeated calls for a debate, said the "President did not get his facts right when he said that debates only happened after party primaries".
He said: "In the campaign for nomination under the presidential system, including the parliamentary systems in open societies, candidates from the same party hold intra-party debates as a way of easing the selection process for party members," the Atiku Campaign Organisation (ACO) said in a statement in Abuja.
The ACO recalled the series of intra-party debates among both Republican and Democratic parties' aspirants using various platforms of organised labour and other interest groups.
"The President must not confuse inter-party debates, which in the case of the United States, are hosted by a Presidential Commission after the primaries, and the intra-party debates which are intended to afford party members the best candidate from their own ranks," the statement added.
Meanwhile, the campaign organisation has advised the President to "clarify his stance" on the alleged threat by Chief Tony Anenih urging him to "fish out" and deal with Niger Delta indigenes who vote for Atiku during the forthcoming PDP primaries.
Atiku faults Jonathan on presidential debate (http://thenationonlineng.net/web3/news/23413.html)