As the 2023 elections draw nearer, the presidential candidate of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, has reiterated his resolve to stay away from the Arise Town Hall meeting scheduled to hold today

Tinubu, in a statement, said that he found it shocking and downright anomalous that Arise News had continued to broadcast his participation in the event, despite his earlier stance that he would not be available.

Tinubu, who spoke through the Director, Media and Publicity of APC Presidential Campaign, Bayo Onanuga, said that he would not be blackmailed into attending the event.

He maintained that he is not under obligation to attend the debate. He said: “While it is trite that the media has clear constitutional duty to hold public office holders accountable to the citizens and its role as the watchdog of the society, there is no part of the Constitution and the Section 22 that says a presidential candidate of any political party and least of all, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu must participate in Arise News Town Hall event or any media organised event at all.

Tinubu continued : “A member of the group, Nurudeen Hammanyero, said nothing is too much for the ambition of the man he described as a force in the nation’s polity.

“The same Constitution grants all citizens of Nigeria including, Asiwaju Tinubu the right and freedom of choice and association. The APC presidential candidate has a right to decide where he goes and events to participate in as he seeks the mandate of Nigerians to be elected as the next President of our country.”

“We want to make it abundantly clear again that Asiwaju Tinubu will not participate and will not attend the Arise News Town Hall meeting slated for Sunday, 4 December, 2022 and any other ones it may plan before the February 2023 presidential election.

“The APC Presidential candidate has his own schedule of campaign activities and other engagements within and outside Nigeria. One of such events is his scheduled event for Monday , December 5, 2022 at Chatham House in London where he will speak on Security, Economy and Foreign Policy.

“Asiwaju Tinubu travelled to United Kingdom early today (Saturday) for this earlier scheduled engagement. We want to reiterate for the umpteenth time that no amount of blackmail, intimidation and media bully and innuendos by the owner and management of Arise News will change the position our campaign has taken on this matter.”