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Debate with Chimamanda not Datti-Ahmed, Atiku’s spokesman, Bwala, tells Soyinka

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Soyinka warns Nigerian government against muzzling dissenting voices

Daniel Bwala, spokesman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, has reacted to the call by Nobel Laureate, Prof Wole Soyinka, to debate with Labour Party (LP) presidential running mate, Datti Baba-Ahmed.

Baba-Ahmed had in an interview last month urged President Muhammadu Buhari and CJN Olukayode Ariwoola to excuse themselves from the May 29 inauguration of Bola Ahmed Tinubu.

He insisted the inauguration would be a rape of democracy, adding that the February 25 presidential election was flawed by a number of irregularities.

However, Soyinka in an article slammed Baba-Ahmed’s pronouncement as utterly fascist and challenged him to a one-on-one debate.

Bwala, who commented on the development in a tweet on Sunday, told Soyinka to rather debate with Chimamanda Adichie who had also written to condemn the alleged irregularities that marred the process.

The PDP chieftain added that both were literary scholars, and that Soyinka would “understand no one has monopoly of knowledge.”

Read also:Atiku spokesman, Bwala, names first task for Tinubu ‘when and if sworn in’

The tweet reads, “Am told Prof. Soyinka asked to debate Datti. No, he should ask to debate Chimamanda Adichie.

“Datti is a politician, Soyinka is not, so it will be an unfair debate. But both Soyinka and Chimamanda trade on literature and grammar.

“When he tries Chimamanda, he will understand the phrase ‘nobody has the monopoly of knowledge’. It will certainly be the case of David v Goliath.”

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