OUTGOING National Public­ity Secretary of the All Progres­sives Congress (APC) Alhaji Lai Mohammed got an unusual gift from the Senate last Tuesday. Cer­tainly he would be surprised that his screening by the Senate was devoid of heat.

This was outside the expecta­tion of many . Prior to his being ushered into the chamber , it was thought that the lawmakers especially those of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) stock would pummel him with questions . But that was not to be . Instead he was asked to bow and go . However, the reason for Moham­med’s smooth sail is fathomable. It was made so by APC senators. A member of the party put it this way “ the Senate President ,Bu­kola Saraki and other APC sena­tors accorded Lai Mohammed the honour he deserves. I was pleased that our senators ensured that he had it easy at the screening”.

Virtually every member of the APC National Working Committee(APC) accompanied Mohammed to the chamber. In fact the National Chairman of the party, Chief John Odigie-Oyegun ensured that his presence was felt by the Senators as he joked and laughed with those around him during the exercise.

That APC leadership is happy that the party’s spokesman is among the ministerial nominees and that he scaled the senate’s is not doubt, what is confusing is whether the party is at home with the implication of Mohammed’s impending exit as the spokesman of the party.

Though the opposition may not publicly utter it , there are signs that it is happy that Lai is leaving his current position as the spokesman of APC. Hate or like him , Mohammed has discharged his assignment in a manner that nobody could ignore him. And that is why he is unarguably one of the most popular politicians in the country today. For some, his popularity is anchored on his capacity to flawlessly dish out propaganda and half-truths in the defence of his party’s policies and decisions. There are those who as­sociate his name with controversy . Lai is aware that such names are pinned on him. But they do not distract him.

Mohammed did not become APC spokesman by accident. His works at the defunct Action Con­gress of Nigeria (ACN) handed him the office. Then an opposition party, Mohammed forced many Nigerians to follow the activi­ties of ACN. Then leadership of PDP could not find an answer to him. This is how the former PDP national publicity secretary, Prof Ahmed Alkali described him “ Lai Mohammed is good in propagan­da. He uses lies to confuse Nigeria . He issues hundreds of statements in a day . That is a sign that he is idle . I cannot do that because I am busy “.

Alkali, for sure, was trying to invent reasons for being unable to match Mohammed in the manage­ment of the publicity needs of his party. Till date many still believe that one of the problems of PDP is that its inability to recruit the right person to man its publicity office.

“We need to have a publicity secretary that is proactive , some­body who can match Lai Moham­med in his antics “, Dr Joshua Ikem, a PDP chieftain said .

The current national publicity secretary of PDP Olisa Metu, has, arguably, adopted Mohammed’s style in many ways. He has been proactive , criticizing and putting the government of President Bu­hari on its toes .

At the beginning of the ad­ministration , Metu was not as flawless as he seems to be right now in putting the APC govern­ment on its toes . Based on that , Mohammed derisively asked him to come for training. “”Metuh will need the training to effectively carry out his new, tough task. It is now obvious that he needs to un­derstand that for him to succeed in his new role, he must be credible, empirical, more sophisticated in language use and very passionate, in addition to being able to oper­ate on a lean or zero budget,” he admonished in a statement.

Metuh replied “Metuh said: “We appreciate the elementary knowledge of the APC spokesman in his new role, especially against the backdrop of his struggling to impress two masters at a time, Bourdellion and the President, who distributes the largesse at the moment, but Nigerians expect that in his search for job, he should be decorous, mature and on the side of truth and accountability.”

The PDP was reacting to Mo­hammed’s reaction to the issues raised by the party in a statement it issued on Sunday, accusing Buhari of scamming Nigerians with empty promises.

Mohammed had castigated the PDP for not appreciating the hard work of Buhari’s government, saying they were reacting to “beer-parlour gossip” and constituting a nuisance.

According to Metuh, the APC failed to address any of the issues it raised in its earlier statement.

Pointing out the issues, the PDP said the APC failed to address the issue of the recent organised public harassment and humiliation against the immediate-past First Lady and wife of the former president, Dame Patience Jonathan, at the Port Harcourt airport and the issue of resort to sole administratorship by the President in managing of the affairs of the nation.

“Furthermore, the nation is still waiting for the APC and the Presi­dency to address the issue of the divisive and tendentious statement by President Buhari who declared to the world that he would run a discriminatory government based on voting pattern in the last general elections, in clear violation of his oath of office and the provisions of the Constitution.”

Though it is contestable , Mo­hammed’s advice to Metuh was based on experience. He caused the administration of President Goodluck Jonathan a huge discom­fort with his frequent accusations . Severally, the administration busied itself debunking the al­legations and trying to burnish its image.

Administrations before Jonathan suffered the same fate. Mohammed pelted it with touching allegations. Bamanga Tukur, for PDP chairman , at a point , angered by Moham­med’s torrents of accusations described him as a bad omen in the country’s democracy .

Now, the question is , can APC cope in the absence of Mohammed in its media and public communi­cations? Who can fit into the big shoes that Mohammed would leave behind?

These are questions ruling the lips of many people includ­ing non APC members. APC needs somebody in the mould of Mohammed at this time. It is cur­rently faced with some challenges . There are crevices and cracks in its fold occasioned by the outcome of the June 9 National Assembly leadership elections . Some leaders are yet to put the incident behind them.

Apart from that ,the ongoing prosecution of the senate president by the Code of Conduct Tribunal has also polarized the party . This has led to some analysts predicting that the party may implode sooner than later. Mohammed has been managing crisis adroitly in the public space . Yes, he has a deputy , but how far can he go in manag­ing the crisis in the public more so as he is considered by some as a controversial figure ? Next few months will tell .

http://sunnewsonline.com/new/huge-challenge-for-apc-as-lai-mohammed-exits/

Who cares?

another pesin will take ova na

All this one na propaganda for the public to see how lai mohammed was very important to the party and why he also deserves the ministerial role.. Shey they wan talk say, them no get ideal person to replace him before they alloted the ministerial role to him ni.. Smh..

APC Deputy National Publicity Secretary, Commrade Timi Frank is a controversial figure that has not hidden his dislike for the ACN stock in the party led by Asiwaju Bola Tinubu. On more than one occasions, he has granted interviews castigating some of the leaders of his own party and that is not a good quality of a party spokeperson. He is meant to make war with outsiders and not with members of his own family. I think it will be a big challenge for the APC to find a spokesman in the mould of the quintessential Lai Mohammed

Propaganda machinery has gone federal,

Dele Alake is d best man to take up his job

Lai Mohammed must definitely be confirmed as a minister, so just forget all that propaganda. He is frm same state with d senate president

APC will surely struggle to fill the space created by Lai's exit. Love or hate him, Lai Muhhamed is not only good at what he does, he is indeed really really good at it. The qualities he possesses are too intimidating not to have him as the minister of information for Nigeria.

I hope APC, as it has proved time and time again, will discover another "Lai Mohammed" to fill the icon's shoes.

ziky2010:
Dele Alake is d best man to take up his job

Dele Alake is no doubt good but Lai is in a different league of his own.

That comment by Alkali on Lai Mohammad though! Epic and freaking hilarious!

the deputy publicity secretary timi frank should never be allowed to be the national publicity secretary, the man is not capable of managing the apc's public relations

I go miss dat dude shar

amtaken:
Who cares?

you look like those girls they use in advertising hair creams,body creams and weave ons

Apc have cross dat river of attacking(dats what lie mohd was doing) dey just need intelligent mind to defend thier policy....

Lol am a boxer

iamrealdeji:
you look like those girls they use in advertising hair creams,body creams and weave ons

amtaken:
Lol am a boxer

pls stop boxing,you're too pretty to be getting punches on the face

Lai Mohammed...The slayer of PDP
I'LL definitely miss that man


in other news,order your football jerseys
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That man did a great job as publicity secretary for the party, for real. I don't know if they can find anyone that can match his achievements. But right now, it is more about Nigeria than about APC...So, it is good he is becoming one of the ministers of our great country.

Lai ma guy......

Lai can officially take his lies on a higher scale. Our senators are comedians

Sai Lai

Making him information minister is like upgrading his status from spokesman of the ruling party.

So, it is still the same and not total exit from previous position in the party. This will even give him more morale to eject more propaganda.

Good luck to him...

Getting another good liar will really be a big challenge for APC indid....

PassingShot:
APC will surely struggle to fill the space created by Lai's exit. Love or hate him, Lai Muhhamed is not only good at what he does, he is indeed really really good at it. The qualities he possesses are too intimidating not to have him as the minister of information for Nigeria.

I hope APC, as it has proved time and time again, will discover another "Lai Mohammed" to fill the icon's shoes.

There are thousands unknown Lai Muhammed in Nigeria, who was Laid Muhammed before 2003, he was relatively unknown to many people like us,so filling his shoes should not be a big deal,even in this forum I can mention up to 30 names that can do the work perfectly well, but do they qualify?

.who's lie Mohammed?

This man contributed greatly to PDP loss with all his LIES and Propaganda; now he is being rewarded as a Ministerial appointee. Nawao!