Special adviser to President Bola Tinubu on media and public communication Sunday Dare has justified the president’s decision to appoint an extensive media team, describing it as a deliberate strategy to improve communication with Nigerians.
During an interview on TVC’s Beyond 100 Days with Nifemi Oguntoye on Wednesday, Mr Dare emphasised the president’s constitutional authority to select the necessary personnel for his administration.
“The president is the commander-in-chief. He builds his team,” Dare explained. “By law, he can appoint between 25 and 40 special advisers, as approved by the National Assembly. If you look at it, he is not even halfway through that.”
The remarks followed Tinubu’s media team reshuffle on November 18 which saw Bayo Onanuga, Sunday Dare and Daniel Bwala appointed as spokespersons.
With these appointments, the president’s media team now consists of 12 officials.
Dare stressed that the focus should not be on the number of aides but on their effectiveness in conveying government policies to Nigerians.
He compared the arrangement to the United States, citing its extensive media apparatus as a model.
“Look at the American presidency, the largest democracy in the world, they have several layers of people speaking for the government at various levels, all singing from the same hymn sheet,” he said.
“What’s important is that we’ve seen a need to deepen communication and ensure Nigerians consistently understand the government’s policies and initiatives.”
Addressing concerns about the cost of governance, Dare highlighted Tinubu’s efforts to cut expenses in critical areas such as security and ministerial operations.
“The number of security aides assigned to ministers and the fleet of vehicles they manage has been reduced,” he said.
“But beyond that, we are focusing on macroeconomic spending. Our debt service to revenue ratio has dropped from around 90% to 68%, and we’re steadily repaying 16 inherited loans. Nigeria is inching towards a $1 trillion economy.”
