Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC) presidential candidate Peter Obi has dismissed Works Minister Dave Umahi’s challenge to a debate, saying the minister must first become a presidential candidate before inviting him to such an engagement.
Obi made the remarks during a recent interview with media entrepreneur Chude Jideonwo.
The former Anambra State governor was responding to a question on whether he would accept Umahi’s challenge after criticising the state of Nigerian roads.
According to Obi, the debate had already been settled because his criticism of a bad road led to repairs.
“First of all, I already started the debate by standing on that road and saying the road was bad. The only reply should have been that the road was good. But I thank him because he is now repairing the road, so the debate is closed. There is nothing else to debate,” Obi said.
He maintained that if Umahi wanted to debate him as a presidential candidate, he would first have to become one.
“If he is inviting me to a debate as a presidential candidate, then he has to become a presidential candidate first,” Obi said.
The former governor likened the situation to a football team that had qualified for the FIFA World Cup being challenged by one that failed to qualify.
“The World Cup is going on now. You cannot stay outside and invite a team that qualified for the World Cup to come and play against you simply because you think you are good. No. There is a qualification process,” he said.
Obi argued that presidential debates are generally reserved for leading presidential candidates.
“I am a presidential candidate. Around the world, not all presidential candidates participate in debates. It is usually the leading candidates. It is like someone in Division One asking a Premier League team to play a match. No. You compete within your own level. When he becomes a presidential candidate, then he can debate with those who are in that category,” he added.
Obi’s response comes days after Umahi said the former Anambra governor was not a political threat to President Bola Tinubu or the ruling All Progressives Congress.
Speaking during an interview on ARISE Television earlier in the week, the minister said, “Nobody is scared of Peter Obi. He is not a threat to our president because Peter Obi himself knows very well that he cannot even face me, let alone face the president.”
Umahi also criticised Obi’s record as governor of Anambra State, questioned his criticism of the Tinubu administration, and challenged members of the Obidient Movement to debate him on infrastructure and the Federal Government’s reform agenda.
He further argued that the Tinubu administration inherited deep economic challenges and deserved more time, insisting that its reforms were beginning to produce positive results.
