THE LIMITS TO PROPAGANDA
Source: This day
27th October , 2015
The judgments at the various election petition tribunals in Abia
State have shown that there is limit to propaganda, writes Ojo
Maduekwe
State have shown that there is limit to propaganda, writes Ojo
Maduekwe
Members of the opposition in Abia State (permit me to take a
cue from President Muhammadu Buhari), are 'noisemakers'.
Since
losing the April 2015 governorship election in the state, their
desperate resort to propaganda has been all noisemaking.
From
inception, it was clear that every one of their lies had an expiry
date. The Tribunal judgments so far, all in favour of the ruling
Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), have proven this to be correct.
So far the opposition All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) in
Abia, a party in complete disarray, has lost in about 98 per cent
of all the petitions decided so far at the National and State
Assembly Election Petitions Tribunal.
At the last count, verdicts in
favour of the PDP have been delivered in three senatorial, five
House of Representatives and one House of Assembly petitions.
The APGA member representing Aba North in the State Assembly
was sacked by the Tribunal for parading forged academic
certificate and for contesting election without being a registered
voter. Also, a re-run has been ordered in the Umuahia South State
Constituency seat occupied by APGA.
Prior to this time, the Abia APGA 2015 governorship candidate,
who at the last minute was smuggled into the party by virtue of
his fat wallet, had on several occasions vowed to "reclaim my
stolen mandate", and talked of how much he believed in the
Nigerian judicial system.
Being one who delights in propaganda and derives pleasure in
playing the victim, he had at one time gone ahead to make
desperate allegations of an assassination attempt on his life,
which security agencies refuted.
It wasn't long before the party's delusional cry of "We will reclaim
our stolen mandate" turned to false accusations of members of
the Tribunal being bribed with money and property.
Who could
have imagined that the same Tribunal which they had on several
occasions reposed faith in to return "our stolen mandate" (sic)
would become a victim of their desperation?
But of course we're talking of the APGA leadership in Abia, a
gang of desperadoes, whose captain got the party's
governorship ticket through deceitful scheming.
A party, whose
leaders, in anticipation of victory at the Tribunal, had already
appointed themselves into offices, will go any length in dragging
reputable members of the Tribunal into the mud.
In two separate advertorials in a national daily, published on
October 16, 2015 and signed using the name of its state
chairman, one Mr. Augustine Ehiemere, the party accused the
judges of the Election Petitions Tribunal of having being bribed
and compromised with property in the United States of America
to give judgment in favour of the PDP candidates.
For the record, the advertorial stated thus: "Huge sums of money
in form of gratification have exchanged hands between the PDP
leadership in the state and cronies of the justices.
Consequently,
some of the judges have been responding in line with the dictate
of the lucre as evidenced in the current dismissing of all petitions
filed by our party against the PDP candidates. The bribe funds,
we understood, were delivered to the judges outside the country
and through proxies in order to leave no traces".
In another full-page advertorial in the same national daily, same
day, the party said, "There should be no space for corrupt judges
in the present Nigeria. It is not enough to just retire them, they
must be tried and if found guilty, jailed or even shot to death as
the people of Ghana are asking their president to do".
Two days later, on Sunday, October 18, in another full-page
advertorial, the party again ridiculously alleged that "In the last
few weeks, suspicious but serious moves involving the officials of
the Abia State Government have been made across the borders
of Nigeria to seek a possible and highly secretive way of
compromising the judges either in cash or through the purchase
of very expensive property."
When the advertorials were drawn to the attention of the judges
at the governorship Tribunal during the final adoption of written
addresses, Ehiemere cowardly denied authoring or having
knowledge of them.
Three advertorials in a space of two days,
involving your party, yet a so called chairman claimed not to
know? Of course this is a lie.
Knowing the implication of
accepting responsibility, Ehiemere would be damned not to deny.
To think that a man who always signs out his press statements
using the tagline Reverend, would choose to lie, is to show you
how low leaders of the party have fallen in their desperation.
The
self-acclaimed Reverend has not taken the time to issue a
rebuttal or embark on his usual fruitless press conferences,
except for his face-saving and humiliating denial at the Tribunal.
A week before the advertorials were published, APGA had been
running newspaper campaigns and series of press conferences in
which they had continued to malign the character and integrity of
the honourable judges of the Tribunal. So, let everyone ignore the
'Reverend's' denial.
This behaviour by the chairman brings me to another character
trait of the APGA leadership and members in Abia State. Aside
being noisemakers, they are also lawbreakers.
A party that
aspires to lead a state is the one now encouraging its members
to take to the streets, not in peaceful protest, but to abuse the
law and disturb the peace, threatening not to accept the yet-to-
be delivered Tribunal judgments when not in their favour.
During a protest at APGAs Abia secretariat, following their several
loses at the National and State Assembly Election Petitions
Tribunal, supporters of the party threatened to "burn down APGA
office", "If the party leaders allow the remaining cases to go the
same way our reactions will not be palatable" and "If Otti's case
goes this way, we will wear boxers to the streets".
A resort to violence by members and a penchant for lies by its
leadership is what one gets from the APGA in Abia. Built on lies,
the party is now like a house of cards, in disarray and crumbling
fast. The internal wrangling among their leaders, necessitated by
selfish interests, will be what would deal a final blow to the party
by the time every election petition is concluded.
An inscription on one of the protesters placard, questioning the
party leaders' capability to "recover our stolen mandate" (sic) is
an indication that the party leadership is losing grip of the few
supporters under its control.
APGA in Abia has taught us that propaganda has a limit and
doesn't always work. While they chose to tell lies, the PDP-led
government of Dr. Okezie Ikpeazu has continued to communicate
with the good people of Abia in a truthful and transparent
manner. The ongoing projects and sincerity of the governor is
defining the narrative and not APGAs lies.
I remember the first meeting members of the media team had
after we were appointed, during which our colleague, the Chief
Press Secretary, Mr. Godwin Adindu, had urged us to be truthful
and transparent in our reactions to the opposition, and remarked
that as a team, "We will win this war by being transparent in our
dealings with Abians". Indeed, truthfulness is doing for PDP what
propaganda couldn't do for APGA.
-Maduekwe is Special Assistant on Media to Governor Ikpeazu
cue from President Muhammadu Buhari), are 'noisemakers'.
Since
losing the April 2015 governorship election in the state, their
desperate resort to propaganda has been all noisemaking.
From
inception, it was clear that every one of their lies had an expiry
date. The Tribunal judgments so far, all in favour of the ruling
Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), have proven this to be correct.
So far the opposition All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) in
Abia, a party in complete disarray, has lost in about 98 per cent
of all the petitions decided so far at the National and State
Assembly Election Petitions Tribunal.
At the last count, verdicts in
favour of the PDP have been delivered in three senatorial, five
House of Representatives and one House of Assembly petitions.
The APGA member representing Aba North in the State Assembly
was sacked by the Tribunal for parading forged academic
certificate and for contesting election without being a registered
voter. Also, a re-run has been ordered in the Umuahia South State
Constituency seat occupied by APGA.
Prior to this time, the Abia APGA 2015 governorship candidate,
who at the last minute was smuggled into the party by virtue of
his fat wallet, had on several occasions vowed to "reclaim my
stolen mandate", and talked of how much he believed in the
Nigerian judicial system.
Being one who delights in propaganda and derives pleasure in
playing the victim, he had at one time gone ahead to make
desperate allegations of an assassination attempt on his life,
which security agencies refuted.
It wasn't long before the party's delusional cry of "We will reclaim
our stolen mandate" turned to false accusations of members of
the Tribunal being bribed with money and property.
Who could
have imagined that the same Tribunal which they had on several
occasions reposed faith in to return "our stolen mandate" (sic)
would become a victim of their desperation?
But of course we're talking of the APGA leadership in Abia, a
gang of desperadoes, whose captain got the party's
governorship ticket through deceitful scheming.
A party, whose
leaders, in anticipation of victory at the Tribunal, had already
appointed themselves into offices, will go any length in dragging
reputable members of the Tribunal into the mud.
In two separate advertorials in a national daily, published on
October 16, 2015 and signed using the name of its state
chairman, one Mr. Augustine Ehiemere, the party accused the
judges of the Election Petitions Tribunal of having being bribed
and compromised with property in the United States of America
to give judgment in favour of the PDP candidates.
For the record, the advertorial stated thus: "Huge sums of money
in form of gratification have exchanged hands between the PDP
leadership in the state and cronies of the justices.
Consequently,
some of the judges have been responding in line with the dictate
of the lucre as evidenced in the current dismissing of all petitions
filed by our party against the PDP candidates. The bribe funds,
we understood, were delivered to the judges outside the country
and through proxies in order to leave no traces".
In another full-page advertorial in the same national daily, same
day, the party said, "There should be no space for corrupt judges
in the present Nigeria. It is not enough to just retire them, they
must be tried and if found guilty, jailed or even shot to death as
the people of Ghana are asking their president to do".
Two days later, on Sunday, October 18, in another full-page
advertorial, the party again ridiculously alleged that "In the last
few weeks, suspicious but serious moves involving the officials of
the Abia State Government have been made across the borders
of Nigeria to seek a possible and highly secretive way of
compromising the judges either in cash or through the purchase
of very expensive property."
When the advertorials were drawn to the attention of the judges
at the governorship Tribunal during the final adoption of written
addresses, Ehiemere cowardly denied authoring or having
knowledge of them.
Three advertorials in a space of two days,
involving your party, yet a so called chairman claimed not to
know? Of course this is a lie.
Knowing the implication of
accepting responsibility, Ehiemere would be damned not to deny.
To think that a man who always signs out his press statements
using the tagline Reverend, would choose to lie, is to show you
how low leaders of the party have fallen in their desperation.
The
self-acclaimed Reverend has not taken the time to issue a
rebuttal or embark on his usual fruitless press conferences,
except for his face-saving and humiliating denial at the Tribunal.
A week before the advertorials were published, APGA had been
running newspaper campaigns and series of press conferences in
which they had continued to malign the character and integrity of
the honourable judges of the Tribunal. So, let everyone ignore the
'Reverend's' denial.
This behaviour by the chairman brings me to another character
trait of the APGA leadership and members in Abia State. Aside
being noisemakers, they are also lawbreakers.
A party that
aspires to lead a state is the one now encouraging its members
to take to the streets, not in peaceful protest, but to abuse the
law and disturb the peace, threatening not to accept the yet-to-
be delivered Tribunal judgments when not in their favour.
During a protest at APGAs Abia secretariat, following their several
loses at the National and State Assembly Election Petitions
Tribunal, supporters of the party threatened to "burn down APGA
office", "If the party leaders allow the remaining cases to go the
same way our reactions will not be palatable" and "If Otti's case
goes this way, we will wear boxers to the streets".
A resort to violence by members and a penchant for lies by its
leadership is what one gets from the APGA in Abia. Built on lies,
the party is now like a house of cards, in disarray and crumbling
fast. The internal wrangling among their leaders, necessitated by
selfish interests, will be what would deal a final blow to the party
by the time every election petition is concluded.
An inscription on one of the protesters placard, questioning the
party leaders' capability to "recover our stolen mandate" (sic) is
an indication that the party leadership is losing grip of the few
supporters under its control.
APGA in Abia has taught us that propaganda has a limit and
doesn't always work. While they chose to tell lies, the PDP-led
government of Dr. Okezie Ikpeazu has continued to communicate
with the good people of Abia in a truthful and transparent
manner. The ongoing projects and sincerity of the governor is
defining the narrative and not APGAs lies.
I remember the first meeting members of the media team had
after we were appointed, during which our colleague, the Chief
Press Secretary, Mr. Godwin Adindu, had urged us to be truthful
and transparent in our reactions to the opposition, and remarked
that as a team, "We will win this war by being transparent in our
dealings with Abians". Indeed, truthfulness is doing for PDP what
propaganda couldn't do for APGA.
-Maduekwe is Special Assistant on Media to Governor Ikpeazu
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