The All Progressives Congress (APC) Presidential Campaign Council has restructured its media and communications team, limiting the number of officials authorised to speak publicly on behalf of the campaign to three following controversy surrounding the failed demonstration of Nigeria’s 112 emergency number on live television.
Under the new arrangement, the council’s Director-General, Abdulaziz Yari; Minister of Solid Minerals Development, Dele Alake; and Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris, are the only officials authorised to speak on its behalf.
The development was announced on Wednesday in a statement signed by Femi Gbajabiamila, Chief of Staff to President Bola Tinubu and Deputy Director-General (Administration) of the campaign council.
Gbajabiamila said the restructuring was intended to promote more coordinated, disciplined and effective public engagement.
He explained that all individuals previously appointed as campaign spokespersons would now become members of the Directorate of Media and Strategic Communications.
The council also advised radio and television stations to take note of the changes, adding that designated representatives would be assigned to media appearances whenever necessary.
The restructuring comes less than a day after Alwan Hassan, one of the APC campaign spokespersons, faced criticism during an appearance on Channels Television’s Politics Today programme on Tuesday.
During the interview, Hassan promoted Nigeria’s 112 emergency number as an achievement of the Tinubu administration and challenged the programme’s anchor, Seun Okinbaloye, to dial the number to demonstrate its functionality.
However, repeated attempts to connect the call during the live broadcast were unsuccessful.
Hassan maintained that the emergency line was operational but suggested that a network problem might have caused the failed connection. Okinbaloye questioned the explanation, noting that other calls from the studio were connecting successfully.
The presenter also said viewers had contacted him to report difficulties reaching the emergency number.
The campaign council did not expressly state whether the television incident informed its decision to reorganise the communications team.
The new arrangement effectively removes the previously appointed spokespersons, including Hassan, from their roles as official voices of the presidential campaign, although they remain members of the media and strategic communications directorate.
