The Senior Political Adviser to the Vice Presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, and Governor of Delta State, Rt. Hon. Solomon Funkekeme has urged Nigerians not to make yet another mistake of returning the All Progressives Congress APC, which erroneously came to power through false propaganda in 2015.
Funkekeme spoke on “Crisis Communication and Management in Political Power Transition” at a capacity- building workshop in Asaba, by the Delta State Communication, DELCOM – 2022, to equip media, political aides, social media influencers/ bloggers and media managers with the requisite skills to put across PDP’s message on the 2023 polls to the electorate.
He said: “First is that APC came to power in error through false propaganda and unleashed pain on the people. In effect, the party has failed spectacularly.”
“The second truth is that APC cannot continue in office on the account of failure. We have a President that is unaware of the monumental problems facing the country.”
Noting that the media space was presently polluted by toxic and fake messages to divert the attention of voters from dispassionately gauging the performance of APC that has been in office , over a considerable period, he charged the aides to enlighten the electorate on the substantive issues at stake.
“You should aid voters to focus on the basic ingredients for electing a credible leadership and your message template should be inspired by some pertinent questions.
“Among them, is our communication appealing to our compatriots in all parts of the country? Are we using the right words? Are we educating Deltans on the benefits that will accrue to our people if Okowa emerges vice president?”
He told the participants to be wary of the “disinformation and false propaganda” from media managers of the ruling APC and design an effective strategy for letting Nigerians know the “true state of the nation and be able to make informed decisions.
“APC has nothing of substance to campaign with and will resort to disinformation used to great effect in coming to power in 2015”, he said.
Solomon said that unlike in previous election cycles, PDP in Delta state was fighting on two fronts – getting Governor Okowa elected as vice president and retaining control of the state by winning the gubernatorial election.
On the lingering disagreement within the PDP, Solomon said the uncensored exchange of ideas would make the party emerge stronger and more cohesive after it is resolved, adding, “And very soon, it will be resolved.”
“Nigerians are generally looking up to PDP to rescue the country from near ruin and all the stakeholders in the party recognize that fact. Despite the seeming disagreement, they all agree that they must rescue the country by winning the 2023 elections”, he stated.