By UZOMA ISIAKPU
In an election period as we are in, candidates standing for one elective office or the other are for sale. And the chief marketer of the candidates are the various political parties under whose banner they are contesting the election. The prospective buyers are the electorates who cast their vote for the candidates that their reputation appeal most to them.
For this reason political parties are constituting campaign councils/organisations to package, polish and sale their flag bearers to eligible voters with the view of emerging victorious in the elections. President Bola Tinubu of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Alhaji Atiku Abubakar of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), Mr. Peter Obi of the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC) and the other presidential candidates in the January 16, 2027 presidential election have all inaugurated their campaign teams.
The Abia State Governor, Dr. Alex Otti on Monday, October 5, 2026, inaugurated the Labour Party (LP) Campaign Council for his reelection with Rt. Hon. Agwu U. Agwu as the Director – General. Coordinators of the 17 Local Government Areas and State Constituencies were also inaugurated alongside the Central Campaign Council.
Governor otti who spoke like a seasoned marketer, communication strategist and reputation manager, told members of the Campaign Council a thing that is appropriate and ought to serve as a guide to the campaign organizations of all the political parties as they canvas for vote. He harped on the need for the Campaign Council to be issues based in their campaign, communicate effectively achievements of his administration and to avoid needles talks.
In essence, Governor Otti is of the view and rightly too, that for candidates seeking reelection, their campaign should focus attention on their policies, programmes and achievements that will make the electorates thumb up for them a second time. In the same vein, opposition parties and their candidates should communicate what they will do differently or even better from what is already on ground to warrant being voted into power, thus retiring the incumbent.
In their quest to secure the people’s mandate, both the powers that be and the opposition should eschew frivolities, base language, blackmail, unnecessary attack, currently prevailing in social media platforms. This is so because the average Nigerian voter of today is more politically aware that wool cannot easily be pulled over his watchful eyes.
As electioneering for the 2027 elections intensifies, political parties, their candidates and supporters should be mindful of the Biblical injunction as recorded in Ephesians 4 : 31. It reads: “Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger and clamour, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice.”
From the above, it behoves the campaign councils of the parties and candidates in the elections to do away with corrupt communication,, tell their stories effectively, in persuasive manner and convincingly as they hunt for vote. Doing otherwise may erode their reputation and lead to electoral misfortune.
UZOMA ISIAKPU is a Public Relations Consultant.
