The presidential candidate of African Action Congress (AAC), Omoyele Sowore on Thursday protested his non-inclusion in the planned Presidential debate organised by the Nigeria Elections Debate Group (NEDG) in collaboration with the Broadcasting Organisation of Nigeria (NBC).
He said the action of the organizers was the beginning of electoral fraud in the forthcoming election.
Sowore, in a chat with newsmen at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), Lagos, on his arrival from United States declared that he was ready for debates on the election.
He said he and his followers would fight to ensure his inclusion on the list of debaters for the 2019 Presidential election.
Our correspondent learnt that some of his supporters also on Thursday protested the non-inclusion of their principals in the debate.
Sowore emphasised that he remains the most prepared and popular of all the candidates, insisting that he deserves to be included among the debaters.
He accused the incumbent President of attempting to rig the election by all means, saying President Muhammadu Buhari is currently jittery about his impending defeat.
“What we know is that Mr. President and his party are already afraid about conducting free and fair polls in 2019. The beginning of the electoral fraud was the non-inclusion of my name among the presidential debaters.
“We won’t allow this to deter us because for us, the debate has commenced. Apart from using Nigerian media, there are some other media where issues are already been discussed,” he said.
On the refusal of President Buhari to assent to the Electoral Act as passed by the National Assembly, Sowore noted that the President wanted to perpetuate fraud with his non-assent.