Gbajabiamila: Only Yari, Alake, Idris Can Speak for APC Campaign Council

• APC blaming the messengers for its failed leadership, says ADC

Adedayo Akinwale in Abuja

All Progressives Congress (APC) Presidential Campaign Council (PCC) has restricted its public voice to just three officials, namely, Director-General of APC-PCC, Senator Abdulaziz Yari; its official spokesperson and Minister of Solid Minerals, Dele Alake; and Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris.

Chief of Staff to the President and Deputy Director-General (Administration), APC-PCC, Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila, issued the directive on Wednesday, saying it is to ensure more cohesive, disciplined, and effective public engagement.

But African Democratic Congress Presidential Campaign Council (ADC-PCC) mocked the move as an act of desperation by a government unwilling to confront the truth about its failures.

Gbajabiamila stated, “To ensure more cohesive, disciplined, and effective public engagement, the All Progressives Congress Presidential Campaign Council has made some changes to the structure of the Directorate of Media and Strategic Communications.

“The council has approved that only the campaign’s Director-General, Senator Abdulaziz Yari; the Minister of Solid Minerals, Dele Alake, as official spokesperson; and the Minister of Information and National Orientation, Alhaji Mohammed Idris, will speak on behalf of the council.”

Gbajabiamila directed that all previously announced persons in spokesperson capacity shall henceforth dissolve into the Directorate of Media and Strategic Communications as members.

He urged radio and television stations to take note of the changes and act accordingly, adding that the campaign would delegate appropriate person(s) for appearances where and when necessary.

However, ADC-PCC said the decision to dissolve the APC presidential campaign council’s former group of spokespersons should have gone further to courageously advise President Bola Tinubu to withdraw from the 2027 presidential race in the overriding interest of the country.

Director of Media and Publicity, ADC-PCC, Kola Ologbondiyan, in a statement issued yesterday, said the council recalled that the dissolution followed the damning disclosure by Hassan Alwan, one of the APC-PCC’s spokespersons, that ministers under Tinubu allegedly paid to secure their appointments and were expected to recoup their investments while in office.

According to ADC-PCC, rather than address the serious allegations of monetised political appointments, APC has chosen to blame the messengers for exposing the failures of its leadership.

Ologbondiyan stated, “You cannot sack spokespersons for telling Nigerians the truth about a government that has failed on virtually every front.

“Hassan Alwan did not invent the rot; he merely brought to public attention what Nigerians have long suspected: that under President Tinubu, public office has become a marketplace and governance a business venture for recovering political investments.”

ADC-PCC added that APC’s response amounted to an attempt to suppress an embarrassing revelation instead of addressing the fundamental issues raised by it.

It added, “ Instead of providing convincing answers to the grave allegations of appointment racketeering, the APC has chosen to shoot the messenger, dissolve its mouthpieces, and hope that silence will make the scandal disappear. It will not.”

The council stated that the development reflected the broader failures of the Tinubu administration, which, in the last three and a half years, had presided over worsening economic hardship, widespread hunger, rising insecurity, unemployment, and a deepening crisis of public confidence.

ADC accused the administration of failing to demonstrate the competence, transparency, accountability, and policy direction required to address Nigeria’s mounting challenges, while its fiscal policies and budget implementation record had continued to raise serious concerns.

ADC-PCC also observed that Tinubu’s re-election campaign had offered Nigerians little beyond recycled promises, unfulfilled commitments, and a rebranded version of the 2023 manifesto, repackaged as a new vision for 2027.

The council maintained that Nigerians had seen through the administration and could not be deceived by cosmetic changes, political theatrics, or a fresh propaganda machinery.

It said, “No new spokesperson, no fresh propaganda strategy, and no campaign jamboree can whitewash the failures of this administration. Nigerians are confronted daily with hunger, insecurity, corruption, unemployment, and a collapsing confidence in government. Changing the people who communicate these failures does not change the reality confronting the country.”

ADC called on Tinubu to listen to the voice of reason and the growing concerns of Nigerians by withdrawing from the 2027 presidential contest and sparing the country another four years of failed leadership.

Nigeria cannot afford another term of monetised appointments, failed reforms, economic hardship and deceitful propaganda, ADC-PCC stated.

It expressed confidence that Nigerians would seize the opportunity of the 2027 general election to vote for competence, integrity, purposeful leadership, and a new beginning under ADC.