Incumbent Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan isn’t playing fair ahead of national elections set for April, his challengers say.
Jonathan backed out of a scheduled debate last week on a private television station in favor of an appearance on the state-run Broadcasting Organization of Nigeria, the BBC reports.
His challengers — Nuhu Ribadu, Muhammadu Buhari and Ibrahim Shekarau — complain appearing only on state-run media is suspicious.
“He has arrogantly shunned the credible debate for which we made ourselves available,” they were quoted as saying in a joint statement.
The BBC adds Jonathan is a poor public speaker, noting his campaign team may be keeping him away from the media.
Recent elections in many Africans states were plagued by lingering violence and ongoing political stalemates.
Jonathan is the front-runner from the People’s Democratic Party. His party has won every national contest since the end of military rule in Nigeria in 1999 and is the favorite in the April 9 contest.