Alhaji Lai Mohammed, a former Minister of Information and Culture, has disclosed how he deployed a two-pronged campaign strategy that helped the All Progressives’ Congress (APC) and President Bola Tinubu to win the 2023 elections.
Mohammed disclosed this in his recently inaugurated book,
“Headlines and Soundbites: Media Moments that Defined an Administration”, which
chronicled his experiences as a minister under the late President Muhammadu
Buhari’s administration.
It would be recalled that ahead of the 2023 elections,
Buhari had warned ministers, permanent secretaries and heads of government
agencies to refrain from abandoning their primary assignments for political
campaigns.
The late president, who gave the directive at the end of a
two-day 2022 Ministerial Performance Review Retreat in Abuja, had warned that
any infraction of the order would attract sanctions.
Mohammed, however, narrated that, without prejudice to the
presidential directive, he deployed campaign strategies, not through rallies or
rhetoric, but by defending truth, documenting performance, and ensuring that
history was not rewritten by propaganda.
The former minister recalled that ahead of the elections,
the prevailing narrative within the opposition was that the APC-led Buhari
administration had failed to achieve anything substantial, and thus, nothing
warrants the party’s return to power.
He said the opposition figures actively propagated the
claim, clearly part of an orchestrated campaign, that the ruling APC had no
achievements to campaign on.
Mohammed said the assertion was neither factual nor grounded
in reality but a deliberate strategy to discredit the administration and, by
extension, the APC and Tinubu ahead of the polls.
“As the popular aphorism goes, ‘Say it loud, say it often,
and it no longer matters if it’s true.’”
“Fully aware of the insidious nature of this campaign, I
adopted a two-pronged strategy: to systematically showcase the administration’s
achievements and to decisively counter the opposition’s misleading narrative.
“Exactly 130 days to the general elections, precisely on Oct
18, 2023, my ministry launched the groundbreaking PMB Administration Scorecard
Series (2015-2023).
“The goal was to present verified accomplishments of the
Buhari administration and shape public perception during a politically critical
period.
“Under the programme, ministers presented concrete,
evidence-based reports on their respective sectors.
“Each session includes a robust question and answer segment
during which journalists critically interrogated the presentations and sought
clarifications,” he wrote.
To ensure maximum visibility, Mohammed said he deployed a
comprehensive multi-platform communication strategy leveraging traditional and
digital platforms.
The former minister also recalled that on Feb. 22, 2023,
just three days before the elections, his ministry unveiled the final set of
legacy documentation tools.
The tools, according to him, are a documentary, a testimony
series, a compendium of PMB achievements in both print and e-copy and a legacy
portal.
Mohammed said the legacy portal was a digital repository,
accessible from anywhere in the world, which contained all the presentations at
the scorecard series.
“The scorecard series was undoubtedly one of the most
innovative and impactful electioneering campaign strategies in Nigeria’s recent
political history.
“It provides Nigerians, ahead of the elections, with direct
unfettered access to the achievements of the outgoing administration.
“It offered detailed, ministry-by-ministry presentations and
highlighted concrete policy achievements, infrastructural developments and
sectoral reforms.
“By doing so, it not only set the tone for the constructive
political discourse but also powerfully reinforced the ruling party’s campaign
message across the length and breadth of the country,” he said.
The former minister further argued, “Apart from
disseminating information, the innovation of the Scorecard Series also shifted
the dynamics of the political campaign itself.
“By placing verifiable facts and government achievements
directly in the hands of the citizens, it compelled the opposition to
constantly play catch-up. ”.
Mohammed said the strategies ended the opposition’s
unfounded narrative around failures or unfulfilled promises.
He said, “With the strategies, the opposition parties found
themselves on the defensive throughout the campaign season, mostly dwelling on
‘ad hominem’ arguments.”
Mohammed stressed that the success of the strategy lay in
its subtlety and strict adherence to facts rather than overt political
grandstanding.
He maintained that by anchoring the campaign on documented
performance and verifiable records, the APC was able to reconnect with
undecided voters and neutralise what he described as deliberate misinformation.
According to him, the approach reaffirmed the power of
strategic communication in shaping electoral outcomes without breaching
institutional responsibilities. (NAN)
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