By Opeyemi Akindele
The unfair story of how the APC made a call and radio stations were stopped from running the viral campaign jingle of an opposition party.
I
From the PDP era to the reigning APC, opposition parties have often attributed the victory of the ruling (often bigger) party solely to rigging, political violence, and unfair electoral practices.
Electoral umpires and chiefs like Maurice Iwu and company were notorious for supervising manipulated elections.
Former President Yaradua once said that the election that produced him was marred by irregularities. Chief Olusegun Obasanjo also remarked that a big party can have its way not just by canvassing for votes but through the sheer might with which it can make its victory a ‘do or die affair’.
While big parties outdo small or smaller parties in electoral shenanigans that add up to their majority wins [small parties are not altogether undefiled], we must avoid the temptation to simply attribute the victory of a big party to violence, rigging, and electoral malpractices.
That would be like a small business owner who assumes that those who run big businesses are able to grow and scale their trade simply because they are corrupt and don’t play by the rules.
Those who want to grow will learn to analyse issues dispassionately and see what to improve, even if the facts hurt their ego or interests in the interim.
However, what I’ve observed in life is that most people (small minds, small parties, small business owners) would rather blame others for their own results and performance than identify what they need to work on to upset the game.
Having established the background, I will now proceed to make a few points to make clear the lessons.
II
In 2023, a friend of mine belonged to the top ranks of an opposition party in a North Central State.
Let’s call my friend’s party The Small Party (TSP).
The ruling party was APC.
INEC had given all political parties the nod that the campaign has officially started.
The Small Party ran a sweet jingle on radio
Everybody loved it.
The jingle went viral.
APC was rattled.
Then APC folks did something that my friend felt was not fair.
I insisted, “nothing spoil”.
What APC did: they made a call, and the campaign jingle of TSP was effectively stopped across radio stations.
What really happened was that TSP did not engage an expert before pushing their political advertising through the media.
All adverts should go through the regulator’s vetting and be assigned an approval certificate.
All APC did was simply do a background check, and once the media houses could not present proof of receiving such a document from TSP, they were compelled to stop running the jingle.
That became a setback for the TSP.
And in politics, once you lose, your opponent automatically gains.
Victory in politics comes in trickles, not as a lump sum.
Like TSP, small parties struggle with getting the best possible hands and having a formidable structure to execute their campaign objectives and communication. A big party is less prone to this weakness.
Here’s another related example.
Yesterday or so, I saw a short video made for an opposition candidate in Lagos. The creator used the soundtrack of the Fuji legend KWAM1 -popularly known to be the chief musician of the ruling party worldwide.
The first impression I got was that it was an APC campaign until I saw the particular candidate. My thinking was that simple things like music rights and knowing what or whose soundtrack not to use should be something a party with a solid campaign team should have sorted out early.
III
Another reason small parties lose big elections is that they generally do not work as hard to be in the face of most people.
They find it easier to demonise the ruling party as undeserving of winning than to extend their own tentacles to the grassroots everywhere.
Apart from hard work, lack of surplus finance is also a limiting factor. But it all boils down to who is known to most people.
Today, who are the candidates or parties most known to the people…
Most popular candidates:
– Governor Seyi Makinde
– HE Peter Obi
– President Tinubu
– Atiku Abubakar
– Omoyele Sowore
Most popular parties:
– ADC
– APC
– APM
– NDC
For most parties, it’s either their presidential candidate is popular and not the party, or the party is known and not the flag bearer.
Can you tell who the presidential candidate of the SDP or the PRP is?
Exactly! Neither can most Nigerians
IV
Finally, I want to mention how big parties easily get willing ‘agents’ outside their own umbrella as a contributing factor to victory.
In September, the ‘unblemished’ Alex Otti of the Labour Party and Abia State Governor used his political muscle to deny Seyi Makinde’s APM access to advertising billboards throughout the state.
He gave them an unprecedented condition (in recent political history); to deposit 200 million naira if they want visibility in Abia State.
Alex Otti, belonging to an ‘opposition’ party, attacked his sister party below the belt by planting an administrative landmine in their path to visibility.
APM has approached Abia State high courts to challenge the Abia State Advertising Agency and defend its fundamental rights.
You can fill in the gap…
Loss of time
Loss of visibility
Time bought for other parties and their candidates to be in the face of the electorate.
PS:
Is your party playing to win, or do you think your candidate should win?
Opeyemi Akindele is an award-winning Nigerian pharmacist, public health professional, entrepreneur, and author. He is also a well published columnist and thought leader. He is best known for pioneering Point-of-Care Testing (POCT) certification and advancing tech-driven retail pharmacy in West Africa
Leave a comment