A media aide to the Presidential candidate of the People’s Democratic Party in the February 25, 2023, election, Atiku Abubakar, Phrank Shaibu has alerted Nigerians of an alleged plot by President Bola Tinubu, to unleash a regime of propaganda in the coming days.
Shaibu who is Atiku’s Special Assistant on Public Communication, in a statement in Abuja, on Sunday, said the “fake news“ regarding the lifting of the visa ban by the United Arab Emirates was just a “tip of the iceberg” of what was coming.
According to him, President Bola Tinubu had in pursuit of this agenda already appointed over 15 media aides whose sole responsibility is to push misinformation as a state policy in order to distract Nigerians from the deep pains his administration has inflicted on them.
He explained that this has always been Tinubu’s style from his days as governor and leader of his party.
The Atiku aide said, “From information available to us, Bola Tinubu is set to push propaganda to overdrive as he heads out for the United Nations General Assembly.
“He will claim to have attracted foreign investments amounting to $100bn 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 $14bn just as his predecessor, President Muhammadu Buhari, claimed in 2018 that he had secured pledges of up to $6bn. This is nothing but audio investments.
“Last month, the NNPC claimed to have obtained a loan of $3bn 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.
“After his trip to the UAE, Tinubu claimed the visa ban had been lifted immediately. Now, they have shifted the goalpost after the UAE authorities revealed that the news was false. This is the sort of embarrassment Nigeria will continue to attract in this season of balablu.
“The 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.
“His list of media aides 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) and Sunday Moses (PA Videography).
Others include: “Taiwo Okonlawon (PA State photography); Moremi Ojudu (SAP, community engagement southwest); Tanko Yakasai (SAP, community engagement northwest); Chioma Nweze (SAP, community engagement southeast)., Abiodun Essiet (SAP, community engagement north-central); Abdulhamid Yahaya Abba (SAP, community engagement northeast); 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 stressed that it was laughable that Tinubu, who vowed to hit the ground running from the first day, had 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.
Shaibu further said, “Tinubu removed petrol subsidy without any plan whatsoever and decided to hand over a few bags of rice to millions of poor Nigerians. Till date, the minimum wage remains N30, 000 or $31 per month based on the parallel market exchange rate.
“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.”
