Atiku Accuses Tinubu Of Appointing 15 Media Aides For Propaganda

Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, has lashed out at President Bola Ahmed Tinubu of trying to use his media aides for propaganda.

Prank Shaibu, the Special Assistant on Public Communication to the former number two citizen said on Sunday that President Tinubu has appointed 15 media aides since coming to office on May 29.

He spoke amidst concerns among Nigerians that President Tinubu’s cabinet has become too bogus considering the country’s current lean resources.

 His government, according to critics, has become insensitive considering the austerity measures it has introduced, forcing many Nigerians to tighten their belts due to scarce resources.

Speaking, Shaibu stated that the intention of the All Progressives Congress-led government is to use the many media assistants to unleash propaganda on Nigerians.

For instance, he cited the recent claim by the administration that the United Arab Emirates, UAE, has lifted the visa ban it imposed on Nigerians after President Tinubu met its leader last week.

The report turned out to be a lie as the government of the oil-rich Arab nation has yet to confirm the report.   

The media aide to Atiku in a statement on Sunday,  warned that the administration will still lie on many issues that border on the country.

Among others, he said, the administration will soon 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.”

According to him, “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 a frontier market to unclassified. Having failed to bring economic rebirth, he has now recruited over 15 media aides instead of recruiting more economic experts.”

He listed the president’s media aide 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); and Sunday Moses (PA Videography).

Others are 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); and Emmanuella Eduozor (SAP Multimedia content production).