Atiku Abubakar’s Aide Exposes President Tinubu’s Alleged Propaganda Regime Plans
ABUJA/Nigeria: Atiku Abubakar’s Special Assistant on Public Communication, Phrank Shaibu, has sounded the alarm bells over purported plans by President Bola Tinubu to implement a state policy of propaganda in the near future.
Shaibu, in a statement released on Sunday, asserted that the recent circulation of fake news concerning the lifting of the visa ban by the United Arab Emirates is just the tip of the iceberg.
According to him, Tinubu has already assembled a team of over 15 media aides with the primary objective of disseminating misinformation as an official state strategy, diverting attention from the hardships allegedly inflicted on Nigerians by his administration. This purported approach, Shaibu claimed, has been a consistent feature of Tinubu’s leadership style since his days as a governor and party leader.
Shaibu went on to declare, “From the information available to us, Bola Tinubu is gearing up to intensify his propaganda efforts as he heads to the United Nations General Assembly. He will likely proclaim attracting foreign investments amounting to $100 billion but will fall short of providing critical details. It’s all propaganda. It’s all a load of baloney.”
Shaibu cited past instances where similar claims were made, such as President Muhammadu Buhari’s 2018 assertion of securing pledges of up to $6 billion and the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation’s claim of obtaining a $3 billion loan to stabilize the Naira, which Shaibu argued turned out to be deceptive.
The statement further highlighted Tinubu’s alleged mismanagement of the economy, leading to Nigeria’s downgrade from a frontier market to an unclassified status according to FTSE. Rather than addressing economic challenges, Shaibu claimed that Tinubu has chosen to bolster his media team with appointees focused on propaganda.
The roster of media aides cited by Shaibu included prominent names such as Ajuri Ngelale, Tunde Rahman, Tope Ajayi, Abdulaziz Abdulaziz, and others, along with the Minister of Information and additional appointments in the ministry to drive the purported propaganda agenda.
Shaibu also criticized Tinubu’s governance approach, pointing out that despite his promise to hit the ground running, the president had held only one cabinet meeting in nearly 120 days since his inauguration.
Concluding the statement, Shaibu called on Nigerians to exercise patience as the Supreme Court prepares to address the election petition appeal, emphasizing that the alleged removal of the petrol subsidy and the distribution of bags of rice without a comprehensive plan had adversely affected the citizens. He urged Nigerians to remain steadfast as the judicial authorities work to address what he referred to as electoral fraud that has brought the nation to its knees.
