The Presidency, on Tuesday, said there was no friction
or conflict in the separate duties of the offices of the Special Adviser to the
President on Media and Publicity and the office of the Special Assistant to the
President on Public Affairs.
The two advisers, at a joint Press briefing, said they
would work together to project the good image of the President and the
Presidency before Nigerians, and also change whatever wrong perception people
had about the President Goodluck Jonathan-led administration.
While formally introducing Okupe to State House
Correspondents, Abati said the briefing was to clear the air on a lot of
speculation in the media about the recent appointment of Okupe as Senior
Special Assistant to the President on Public Affairs.
He maintained that there was no friction in the media
management in the Presidency.
“In the last few days, there have been a lot of
speculation out there in the media; all kinds of theory; all kinds of
assumptions on whether there is friction in the villa, whether there is
confusion in terms of the President’s information management process,” Abati
said. "I know there will be all kinds of interests who would like to give
the impression that there is fighting in the villa; that they are confused;
that they have Reuben Abati, why do they need to have Dr. Okupe again?
"There is no conflict at all, we are working
together as a team and you are not going to see any kind of friction. If
anything, you are going to see us engaging the public with a lot of coherence.”
According to Abati, one thing he and Okupe have in
common is that a passion for the Jonathan transformation agenda and a belief in
the President.
Clearing the air on his appointment, Okupe, who was
Special Assistant to President Olusegun Obasanjo on Media and Publicity,
dismissed insinuations that he had come to take over Abati's job, stressing
that Abati remained the Spokesman of the President.
Okupe said that he was not appointed to be Jonathan's
"attack dog" as some people had been made to believe.
He added that his duty is to engage the opposition and
the general public on issues matters and debates regarding the Jonathan
administration.
“My relationship with Dr. Abati spans over 15 years. By
chance, most of the things I believed in the past, we have shared the same
views and visions. He has been a tremendous pillar of support for me even while
I was here in the villa. His place in history is a different one. He comes with
a lot of integrity and honour. I have a lot of respect for him,” Okupe said.
“My job is Public Affairs. Later this afternoon, Dr.
Abati and the President will be travelling to Trinidad and Tobago. While they
are away, issues become current, debates surface and somebody in Trinidad and
Tobago cannot be the one at the same time engaging the public. So, my
department, which is not going to be in the Villa, is to engage the public on
issues that are current and of national importance.
“I am also to monitor development, both in the media
and the nation, and to advise the Presidency and other relevant organisations
as to what we are hearing. We are to interface between the Presidency and the
public. That is the job. What you will see is a synergy, not a conflict.
“Somebody said Okupe has been hired as an attack dog;
if President Jonathan hires a 60-year-old man as attack dog, then he is
employing a weak attack dog. I am not an attack dog. My job basically is public
advocacy. The opposition in Nigeria is a strong one, we must admit that, very
boisterous. We need to engage the public, we need to engage opposition to
deepen the understanding of the opposition on what government policies are.”
The new adviser used the opportunity to urge Nigerians
to "give President Jonathan another look," and see that he is not
what the opposition is painting him as.