Ahead of the 2023 general elections, politicians have been advised to be weary of highly inflammatory propaganda. The United Patriots Assembly of Nigeria (UPAN) stated this in a statement made available to The Standard Gazette through its National Facilitator, Amb. Aiyamenkhue Edokpolo.
According to him, since the emergence of Senator Kashim Shettima as Bola Tinubu’s running mate under a Muslim-Muslim ticket, there has been “a tragic surge in false propaganda in form of intrathoracic religious rhetoric in our polity,” which is condemnable.
The statement reads in part, “Nigeria is a secular State by our constitution and in practice, same was justified by the recent election in Osun State, where the PDP Christian-Christian ticket of Senator Adeleke prevailed in the Muslim religion dominated State.
“As a forum of painstakingly assembled patriots, we are in sync with the APC Presidential ticket, on account of the gubernatorial antecedents of Tinubu and Shettima. Most importantly, Tinubu is deeply endowed with prolific team play charisma, and good governance delivery tenacity.”
Tge statement also called out Labour Party’s presidential Flagbearer, Peter Obi to defend his governorship antecedent while at the helms of affairs for 8 years in Anambra state.
“I respectfully challenge His Excellency Peter Obi to any debate platform in Nigeria, to speak to his gubernatorial antecedent as Anambra Governor. For good eight years – no power plant, no seaport, no dry port, no modular refinery, no heavy duty vehicles assembly plant, no turnaround in Onitsha main market (unarguably the largest market in West Africa), almost ten months of medical doctors strike, was impeached by distinguished members of Anambra assembly for alleged gross misconduct, and being praised by neophytes in forensic auditing for saving Anambra monies in his own Fidelity Bank.”
“I am offering this challenge with all sense of respect as a modest intervention to deepening the conversation over democratic credentials of the presidential candidates.”
“The world over, propaganda is the tool by which politicians swing votes of most undecided electorates in their party’s or candidates interests. However, in any nascent democracy, propaganda can be inflammable if it is unconscionably deployed in a given political space.”
Nigerians will recall one of such bizarre resort to highly inflammable propaganda, when ahead of 2019 general elections, the main opposition class concorted false propaganda alluding to a certain Jubrin from Sudan, whom was said to have been cloned into Nigeria’s President Muhammadu Buhari. Apart from the Machiavellic aim of mischievous depersonalization of our President in the international community, the protagonists and promoters of such highly inflammable propaganda possibly desired civil unrest or anarchy or ethnic tribulations within our diverse ethnic nationalities.
Ordinarily, the rumor could nosedive into a Sri Lanka kind of insurrection, in which disenchanted youths will storm the Presidential villa demanding to see face to face of their cloned President. Social media was a-washed with doctored videos and Photoshoped pictures alluding to the First Lady not cooperating with the cloned President. It gravitated to an existential threat to our nation’s security.
“Since the Presidential ambition of Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu gained prominence after the 2019 election, political anarchists have left no stone unturned at maligning or disparaging his unrivalled democratic pedigrees. All sorts of character assassination tags have been heaped around his neck, just to pull him down.
“There is no official register of all superintendents of Christian Churches or auditoria in Nigeria, as most General Overseers are known in local and statewide Televisions, some have been functioning in God’s vineyards without TV appearances for decades. The claim by the mischievous opposition elements that the venue was greeted by hundreds of unknown Bishops is hyperbolical, treacherous and irrepressible.
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“Election season should ordinarily call for total restraints by otherwise principled religious and occupational organizations, as unguided alignment with political parties could be counterproductive to their avowed aims and objectives,” he concluded.
