The presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar, said on Friday night that he was keenly looking forward to next month’s presidential debate, moments after watching the vice-presidential debate in Abuja.
Atiku expressed satisfaction with the showing of his running mate, Peter Obi, at the vice-presidential debate at Transcorp Hilton Hotels.
“I watched with pride as Peter Obi laid out our vision to get Nigeria working again,” Atiku said on Twitter, adding that he cannot “wait for the presidential debate.”
Peter Obi sparred with Vice President Yemi Osinbajo and three other running mates in the five-person debate last night, focused mainly on the economy for about two and a half hours.
Obi was widely praised for demonstrating a good grasp of statistics, and Osinbajo received commendations for his ability to focus on what his government had done as against what the PDP did in its 16 years in power from 1999 to 2015.
Although the debate organisers said last week they expected President Muhammadu Buhari to participate at the presidential debate on January 19, there has been no commitment from the president.