Phrank Shaibu, an aide to the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the 2023 elections, Atiku Abubakar, has raised the alarm over alleged plans by President Bola Tinubu to unleash a regime of propaganda in the coming days.
The Special Assistant on Public Communication to the former vice president said in a statement on Sunday that the ‘fake news’ regarding the lifting of the visa ban by the United Arab Emirates was just a “tip of the iceberg”.
Shaibu noted that Tinubu had already appointed over 15 media aides with the sole aim of pushing misinformation as a policy of state and distracting Nigerians from the deep pains his administration has caused them.
He noted that this has always been Tinubu’s style from his days as governor and leader of his party.
“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). 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,” Shaibu stated.
According to Atiku’s aide, after his trip to the UAE, Tinubu claimed the visa ban had been lifted immediately, insisting that the government has now 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. 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 added.
He listed the media aides as: Ajuri Ngelale (Special Adviser Media and Publicity); Tunde Rahman (SSAP Media); Tope Ajayi (SSAP Media and Publicity); Abdulaziz Abdulaziz (SSAP Print Media) and Otega Ogara (SSAP Digital/New Media).
Others, he said, include Segun Dada (SAP Social Media); Nosa Asemota (SAP Visual Communications); Sunday Moses (PA Videography) and Taiwo Okonlawon (PA State photography).
He listed others as: 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).
“This is apart from the minister of information and others appointed in the ministry to drive the propaganda agenda,” he alleged.
Shaibu said 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.
“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,” he said.
Emmanuel Addeh and Chuks Okocha in Abuja
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