Ogun PDP chief faults Tinubu’s use of multiple presidential spokespersons

A former governorship aspirant of the Peoples Democratic Party in Ogun State, Segun Showunmi, has criticised President Bola Tinubu for the restructuring of his media team.

Tinubu, on Monday, approved that his Special Adviser on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga; and new appointees — Sunday Dare and Daniel Bwala, work jointly as his spokespersons.

The PDP leader, however, faulted appointing more than two people to manage the presidential communication team, adding that the idea of having an “attack dog” is obsolete because the world now thrives on believability which engenders acceptance and good governance.

Showunmi disclosed this in a statement sent to journalists on Wednesday.

He said, “For someone who has built and invested heavily in the media and who has enjoyed significant support from the media, especially during his run for the presidency, it beats me how he is suddenly so confused and disorganised with a straightforward task of putting together a coherent, light-footed, fit-for-the-purpose media team.

“Just look at the cacophony of strange fellows he has appointed, from the rather too-old-for-the-era Methuselah to the turncoat minimal value blabber. They are too many, the job description is all over the place, and some of them have neither real access to nor an understanding of how the Nigerian media space works.

ADVERTISEMENT

“If the President cannot put a simple media team together, can anyone be surprised how he will motivate them to get the job done? What is even their job? He mistakes media management for public relations. He muddles this up with a spokesperson interface, with media firewall speaking heads, and with social media optimisation.

“He imagines some ‘attack dog’ role as useful in an era where believability is key and young people are catching cruise as they call it, where rudeness and deliberate misdemeanours are the currency.”

Showunmi urged Tinubu to quickly reorganise the media team and ensure that there is an appointed leadership with cabinet status to coordinate and lead the media team other than how it is now where the three appointed Special Advisers operate independently as spokespersons for the presidency.

He opined that having an identified team head with a cabinet status would also make it easy for the media, especially the international ones to know who to call on matters affecting the government.

Showunmi said, “Former President Buhari had just two main drivers. The one and only Femi Adesina was leading with Mallam Garba backing him with clearly defined roles.

“I urge the president to designate one of them as Special Adviser. The others should be Senior Special Assistants, Special assistants and PAs because the bulk must stop on one of the tables, not on multiple tables.”