By Ghazali Ibrahim
The All Progressives Congress (APC) Presidential Campaign Council has restricted the number of officials authorised to speak on behalf of President Bola Tinubu’s 2027 re-election campaign to three, following controversy surrounding the appearance of one of its spokespersons on Channels Television.
The decision was announced on Wednesday, November 11, 2026, a day after Alwan Hassan, one of the campaign’s previously announced spokespersons, appeared on Channels Television’s Politics Today programme.
In a statement signed by Femi Gbajabiamila, Chief of Staff to the President and Deputy Director-General (Administration) of the campaign council, the party said only three officials would henceforth be authorised to speak for the campaign.
They are Abdulaziz Yari, Director-General of the campaign council; Dele Alake, Minister of Solid Minerals Development; and Mohammed Idris, Minister of Information and National Orientation.
The council also announced that all previously designated spokespersons would be absorbed into the Directorate of Media and Strategic Communications as members, without individual authority to speak on behalf of the campaign.
The new arrangement is expected to centralise the campaign’s communication and ensure consistency in its public messaging ahead of the 2027 general elections.
The development comes after Hassan’s appearance on Politics Today on Tuesday, where he defended the Tinubu administration’s achievements and challenged the programme’s presenter, Seun Okinbaloye, to test the functionality of Nigeria’s emergency telephone number, 112.
Hassan had insisted that the emergency line was operational, but an attempt to reach the service during the live broadcast reportedly failed.
The incident attracted public attention, with Hassan maintaining that the failure could have resulted from a network problem.
He also faced criticism over his comments on the country’s economic situation, particularly his position on claims that Nigerians were experiencing widespread hunger.
Although the campaign council did not expressly link its latest decision to Hassan’s television appearance, the restructuring comes amid renewed attention to how the APC communicates the achievements of the Tinubu administration ahead of the next presidential election.
The council has also directed media organisations to recognise and comply with the new arrangement when seeking official comments from the campaign.
