By Muhammad Mamman
Nigeria’s former minister of information and culture, Lai Mohammed, says a carefully coordinated media strategy played a decisive role in helping the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) and President Bola Tinubu win the 2023 general election.
Mohammed made the claim in a newly published book, Headlines and Soundbites: Media Moments that Defined an Administration, which reflects on his years as the government’s chief spokesperson during the administration of former President Muhammadu Buhari.
According to the former minister, his approach centred on aggressively documenting, packaging and projecting what he described as the achievements of the Buhari government, at a time when opposition parties were challenging the APC’s performance in office.
He said the strategy was designed to counter what he viewed as negative narratives and to ensure that the ruling party’s record dominated public discourse in the lead-up to the elections.
Mohammed argued that sustained engagement with both local and international media platforms helped shape voter perception and reinforced the APC’s campaign messaging, ultimately contributing to Tinubu’s emergence as president.
The book offers an insider’s account of media management at the highest level of government, detailing key communication battles, headline moments and the role of information control in Nigeria’s fiercely contested political environment.
Tinubu, the APC candidate, was declared winner of the February 2023 presidential election, defeating opposition challengers in a vote that sparked intense debate and legal challenges over the process and outcome.
Mohammed’s remarks are likely to revive discussions about the influence of state communication machinery, media narratives and propaganda in Nigeria’s electoral politics.
