The masters of spin are at it again, I mean the APC. First, they proudly declared that their “golden” candidate, Monday Okpebholo, didn’t need any of those fancy TV interviews. No, no, his charm was strictly reserved for voters in the villages – people who, they said, don’t even watch TV. Those were the ones he needed to talk to, not wasting his time on a mere 30-minute interview. But Okpebholo enjoys sending his bootlickers to represent him on TV since he supposedly forbids it.
In fact, they assured us their audience was too rural for such modern luxuries. But fast-forward to less than four days before the election, and suddenly, we’re treated to a poorly patched-together documentary about Okpebholo… on Channels TV, no less!
Oh, have the villagers magically upgraded to flat screens overnight? Who exactly was their target audience with voters’ cards on Channels TV? Okpebholo prefers a poorly scripted documentary that was paid for as against special session interviews that was free of charge.
It’s quite the transformation – one minute, TV is irrelevant, and the next, they’re scrambling to get their candidate’s face on it. Why the sudden change of heart? Could it be that, just maybe, they have a candidate they’ve been trying to hide all along? Of course, yes!
According to their spokesperson, no media outlet ever wrote a letter addressed to Okpebholo for an interview. And thankfully, Seun Okinbaloye told Kassim Afegbua to his face, “You lied.”
So now Afegbua wants media houses to write formal letters requesting an interview with Okpebholo, as if all those governors, ministers, and senators who’ve appeared on TV interviews received written invitations. The bare-faced lies and the arrogance are unbecoming. One must be foolish and stupid to try and market a bad product, isn’t?
And then, we heard about Okpebholo asking Senator Adams Oshiomhole to stand in for him at a governorship debate – because nothing screams confidence like sending someone else to argue your case, right? Just ask Olumide Akpata of the Labour Party, who was all too happy to remind us. According to Akpata, “No bi juju be that”?
The APC’s well-worn bag of excuses is becoming nauseating – they thought no one noticed the contradictions. But seriously, when will they stop treating Nigerians like we have the memory of a goldfish? If they spent half as much effort polishing their candidate as they do concocting these laughable narratives, maybe – just maybe – we’d take them a little more seriously.
For me, the Social Democratic Party (SDP) and NNPP of Senator Kwankwaso should earn more votes than the APC in our present day Nigeria. The APC may struggle to defend its record, and without a compelling counter-narrative, they risk falling behind even further. They must be rejected come Saturday. The PDP’s candidate, Dr. Asue Ighodalo is the people’s choice and not one clueless, timid, clout-less and colourless Senator.