Paul Ibe, a media aide to ex-Vice President Atiku Abubakar, has criticized President Bola Tinubu’s administration for its handling of the #EndBadGovernanceInNigeria protests, alleging that the government has resorted to using propaganda as a state policy.
Ibe’s remarks come in response to a controversial incident involving a video posted on the President’s official social media account.
On Wednesday, Tinubu’s official X (formerly Twitter) handle shared a video of the President appealing to Nigerians to ease their protests and allow his administration more time to address their concerns.
The video quickly gained traction on social media and was initially praised for showing empathy toward the protesters, contrasting with the widely criticized speech given by the President on Sunday.
However, later in the evening, presidential spokesman Bayo Onanuga revealed that the video was not new but an old clip from a broadcast made last year.
This disclosure sparked outrage and accusations of deception.
Ibe condemned the administration’s actions, describing them as indicative of dishonesty and manipulation.
He criticized the Tinubu presidency for attempting to distract the public with outdated content rather than addressing the substantive issues raised by the protests.
His words: ”The scenario says a lot about the character of the Tinubu presidency, the proficiency of his media managers, and the attitude that the presidency accords the current #EndBadGovernanceInNigeria protest.
”For a start, what the Tinubu presidency did with the old video is to pull the wool over the eyes of Nigerians, with a view to distract them. It’s a mannerism that is symptomatic of this presidency.
”This president and his media managers are a class act in propaganda. It is indeed shameless that in a time where misinformation is being blamed for public outrage in many parts of the world, the Nigerian government is caught red-handed in the act, adopting it as a state policy.
”The flip-flopping episode that played out in the management of the President’s social media handle typifies the Tinubu administration’s policy flip flops and trial-and-error policies. It is for this very reason that the country has been on a tight noose since the beginning of the administration.
”Obviously, the president’s media team knew they did a poor job in the Sunday broadcast by the president and in trying to make amends, came out to do what they know how to do best: deploy propaganda.
”This type of dysfunctional narrative is why Nigerians have lost confidence in the Tinubu administration. It is obvious even to the blind and the deaf that this government is deficient in credibility.”
Ibe called for an immediate and sincere apology from the Tinubu presidency, urging the government to abandon its deceptive practices and address the real concerns of the Nigerian people with honesty and transparency.
Our president should know that Nigeria is too big for his media aides political propaganda. You can only use propaganda to win election, but you cannot use propaganda to rule the nation.