APC alleges attempt to bring down Buhari’s government

Members of the Progressive Governors Forum (PGF), minister of information and culture, Lai Mohammed as well as information managers at the federal and states governed by the All Progressives Congress (APC) have alleged deliberate attempts to misrepresent facts and bring down the President Muhammadu Buhari-led government.

The PGF who converged on Lagos on Thursday, with others joining virtually, said the party at federal and state levels was delivering dividends of democracy despite the numerous challenges. It noted that in spite of this, there are attempts by certain individuals and separatist campaigners to bring down the government.

Speaking at the meeting which brought information managers of the APC at federal and state levels together, hosted by the Lagos State governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, Lai Mohammed said 476 online platforms had been established by traducers to bring down President Muhammadu Buhari-led government.

The minister, whose address dwelt on, ‘mitigating the contemporary challenges of information and communication management,’ pointed out that the new information dissemination platforms and digital technology has posed serious challenges to the sector.

“The social media is a double-edged sword, providing opportunities and challenges perhaps in equal measure. For the information and communication manager, the so-called new media provides the ultimate test. As you all know, we recently had to suspend the operations of Twitter in Nigeria because of the threat posed by the gross abuse of the platform to the nation’s peace and unity. Twitter is the platform of choice for separatist campaigners, especially those of them residing outside the country, who use it to issue directives to their followers in Nigeria to attack our security forces as well as to burn police stations and INEC offices.

“It was a tough decision to take, considering that many of our youths also use the platform for business. Such is the challenge posed by social media. At its request, the government has agreed to engage with Twitter and, hopefully, we can both chart a path forward, without compromising our national interest.

Speaking at the meeting, Governor Sanwo-Olu said there was a need to properly communicate with the citizens and the electorates. He urged the information managers to ensure that they communicate government policies effectively and efficiently to the people.

“We need to be proactive in this era of social media. As good as novel as they bring on board they also come with challenges,’’ urging the information managers to rise up to the challenges posed by the socio media.”

Chairman of the PGF and Kebbi State governor, Abubakar Atiku Bagadu who joined the meeting virtually said the progressive governors have done well at the federal and state levels.

He commended Sanwo-Olu and his Kaduna State counterpart, Nasir El- Rufai both co-chairmen of the PGF media and communications programme for organising the meeting.