Tinubu oils propaganda machine in his drive for mere optics, he adds
By Jeph Ajobaju, Chief Copy Editor
President Bola Tinubu has acquired more arsenal by appointing more than 15 media aides to unleash propaganda that will exaggerate or forge purported achievements to present optics at variance with reality, Atiku Abubakar has alerted Nigerians.
The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) presidential candidate warned the “fake news” of the lifting of the visa ban on Nigeria by the United Arab Emirates (UAE) was just a “tip of the iceberg” of the government of lying by liars for liars instituted by Muhammadu Buhari which Tinubu is building on.
Part of Tinubu’s strategy, Atiku explained through his Media Aide Phrank Shaibu, is to purvey misinformation as state policy to distract citizens from the deep pains his administration has caused them.
He noted this has been Tinubu’s style from his days as Lagos Governor and national leader of the All Progressives Congress (APC).
“From information available to us, Bola Tinubu is set to push propaganda to overdrive as he heads out for the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA),” Shaibu alerted in a statement.
“He will claim to have attracted foreign investments amounting to $100 billion but will fail to provide key details.
“It is all propaganda. It is all a load of baloney.
“In India, he claimed they had received pledges of over $14 billion just as his predecessor, President Muhammadu Buhari, claimed in 2018 that he had secured pledges of up to $6 billion. This is nothing but audio investments.
“Last month, the NNPC claimed to have obtained a loan of $3 billion with which it would help stabilise the naira. We raised the alarm that it was all a ruse to deceive Nigerians. Now, we have been justified as the naira is now approaching $1/N1,000 on the black market.”
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Failing foreign exchange rate unification
After Tinubu’s trip to the UAE, he claimed the visa ban had been lifted immediately, but Abuja shifted the goalpost after the UAE authorities revealed that the news was false, Shaibu added, per reporting by Arise News.
“This is the sort of embarrassment Nigeria will continue to attract in this season of balablu. A report by FTSE revealed that Tinubu’s so-called FX unification policy was failing, and Nigeria was degraded from frontier market to unclassified.
“Having failed to bring economic rebirth, he has now recruited over 15 media aides instead of recruiting more economic experts.”
Shaibu listed the media aides to include:
- Ajuri Ngelale (Special Adviser Media and Publicity)
- Tunde Rahman (SSAP Media)
- Tope Ajayi (SSAP Media and Publicity)
- Abdulaziz Abdulaziz (SSAP Print Media)
- Otega Ogara (SSAP Digital/New Media).
- Segun Dada (SAP Social Media)
- Nosa Asemota (SAP Visual Communications)
- Sunday Moses (PA Videography)
- Taiwo Okonlawon (PA State Photography)
- Moremi Ojudu (SAP, Community Engagement South West)
- Tanko Yakasai (SAP, Community Engagement North West)
- Chioma Nweze (SAP, Community Engagement South East)
- Abiodun Essiet (SAP, Community Engagement North Central)
- Abdulhamid Yahaya Abba (SAP, Community Engagement North East)
- Emmanuella Eduozor (SAP, Multimedia Content Production)
“This is apart from the Minister of Information and others appointed in the ministry to drive the propaganda agenda,” Shaibu alleged.
He said it is laughable that Tinubu, who vowed to hit the ground running from the first day, has held only one cabinet meeting since his inauguration nearly 120 days ago.
He asked Nigerians to remain patient as the Supreme Court prepares to commence work on the election petition appeal.
Pain of fuel subsidy removal without proper palliatives
“Tinubu removed petrol subsidy without any plan whatsoever and decided to hand over a few bags of rice to millions of poor Nigerians. To date, the minimum wage remains N30,000 or $31 per month based on the parallel market exchange rate,” Shaibu said.
“This is the punishment Nigerians are facing because the election management body failed to do its work on February 25. This is a manifestation of the words of the Holy Book, which says when the righteous lead, the people rejoice, but when the wicked rule, the people suffer.
“In the meantime, we ask Nigerians to remain patient as the judicial authorities do their job in righting the electoral fraud that has brought Nigerians to their knees.”