By Chibuike Nwabuko
Abuja (Sundiata Post) – Allied Congress Party of Nigeria (ACPN) flag bearer in the November 18 Anambra governorship elections, Comrade Akunwata Ejoh Ojiba has accused Channels Television of organising a biased governorship debate in the state.
Ojiba while reminding that four of such debates that have held in the state were boycotted by most of the participants that took part in the Channels Television debate, wondered how the media house arrived at their choice of participants.
He disclosed this on Tuesday in a statement signed by his Head of the Media Directorate Campaign, Comrade James Ezema and made available to sundiata Post.
According to him, the media outfit only succeeded in showcasing Anambra State’s worst candidates to the world without any form of research on the strength of each of the 37 political parties that fielded candidates for the next Saturday’s polls.
He advised that in order to avoid the obvious pitfalls in the biased approach adopted by Channels Television to demean reputable and distinguish individuals that have put themselves forward to the people of the state to be elected based on their manifesto and track records of service, all media organizations in the country should be at the top of their informing, educating and agenda-setting game next time.
Ojiba said, “It on record that Anambra State has made history as the first state with as high as 36 candidates contesting governorship seat against an incumbent governor in any state in the country”.
“But instead of promoting such unprecedented array of choices for the deepening of democracy, Channels Television unwisely opted to trample upon it and ended up bringing shame and reproach to Anambra people by showcasing their worst as the top five among 37 candidates, he said.
The ACPN flag bearer therefore urged his supporters across the state to ignore the elites-induced governorship debate, stressing that maintained that his party and himself strongly condemned the planned imposition of a candidate on Anambra people through the back doors by Channels Television.
He further reminded that if not for his party’s door-to-door and person-to-person campaign strategy, the television outfit would have succeeded in rigging the Anambra governorship election in favour of money bags.
Ojiba therefore called on all lovers of democracy and good governance to rise up and condemned the move by Channels Television to institutionalize god-fatherism and money politics in Anambra State.
