APC to Review Publicity Strategy

Onyebuchi Ezigbo in Abuja

The All Progressives Congress (APC) has said it would take steps to re-orientate and refocus its publicity organs to reflect the party’s status as the ruling party.
Speaking in an interactive session with journalists covering the APC national headquarters in Abuja, the National Publicity Secretary, Mr. Bolaji Abdullahi, said the party was in the process of organising a national workshop to re-orientate its officers in the publicity machinery nationwide.

According to Abdullahi who is a former Minister of Youth and Sports, the new strategy to be adopted by the party will do away with certain elements and approach to issues that are usually associated with opposition party which no longer tally with the current disposition of APC as a ruling party.

To this effect, he said the party would hold workshop for all its spokes persons across the country to draw up a template on how to respond to issues as the ruling party in the country.
Abdullahi said for a ruling party, some high level of responsibility and comportment is required, pointing out that the way some spokespersons have responded to issues does not augur well for the growth of democracy in the country.

“Well, l mean it’s very important because we at every seriously our position as a ruling party and like l have repeatedly said, if you speak for a ruling party, there is a way you need to speak. You need to speak with higher level of responsibility and awareness of the implications of what you are saying.

The party spokesman said one of the things the party intends to do this year is to bring together its spokespersons across the country as there was the need to reshape the way they respond to issues.

“So, l think there are ways that we have spoken to people in the past that was not necessarily the right way that a ruling party should be speak to people and that is why l said one of the things that we are going to do in this year is to bring together all spokespersons of the party across the country and brainstorm on the need for us to change the language of our conversations and the way for us to inflate our profile as a ruling party.

“So, that is very important to us because we have seen that even in the course of responding to issues that are legitimate the way our people respond to it sometimes does not reflect the profile and standards of a ruling party and so that has to change and one of the things that we have to do is the conference,” he said.

On what to expect from the party and its administration in the new year, Abdullahi appealed to Nigerians to support the President Muhammadu Buhari government in its quest to implement the policies of government and the manifesto on which the APC members was elected into government.
He expressed optimism that 2017 would be a better year for Nigerians, pointing out that the nation needed to go through the challenges of 2016 since it was the first budget of the government which was implemented in a period of recession.

“2016 was difficult. It was the first budget we implemented. But 2017 will be a better year. We have started with the social welfare initiative that will see the less-privileged in our midst given a sense of belonging,” he stated.