An assistant to the Peoples Democratic Party’s presidential candidate in 2023, Atiku Abubakar, has voiced concerns about President Bola Tinubu’s purported plans to engage in a propaganda spiral in the coming days.
Mr Atiku’s Special Assistant on Public Communication, Phrank Shaibu, said in a statement on Sunday that the misleading news about the United Arab Emirates easing the visa ban was simply the “tip of the iceberg.”
The News.ng reported how an official of the UAE refuted a statement made by the Nigerian government that it has lifted the visa ban imposed on Nigerian travellers.
This was sequel to a statement issued by Ajuri Ngelale, the presidential spokesperson, who announced that the UAE had lifted its visa requirement for citizens of Nigeria.
The decision, according to the presidency, was reached when President Bola Tinubu met with UAE President Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan in Abu Dhabi last week Monday.
Mr Shaibu responded by noting that President Tinubu had already appointed over 15 media aides with the sole purpose of propagating disinformation as a state policy and distracting Nigerians from the grave sufferings his administration had caused them.
He remarked that this has always been Tinubu’s style, dating back to his days as governor and party leader.
His words:
“From what we know, Bola Tinubu is planning to ramp up propaganda as he travels to the United Nations General Assembly,” he stated.
“He will claim to have attracted $100 billion in foreign investment but would fail to disclose vital facts. Everything is 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.
