SAN FRANCISCO, January 23, (THEWILL) – The International Republican Institute, IRI, has observed that Nigeria’s main opposition party, the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, has a battered image before the public and needs to re-strategize in order to gain the trust of Nigerians.
This was disclosed by the Country Director of the institute, Mr. Sentell Barnes, while delivering a keynote address entitled: ‘The Role of Communication in Party and Development’ at a PDP Social Media communication Interactive Forum organized by members of PDP Social Media Directorate in Abuja.
While stating that the 2015 general elections was fought and won on the social media, Mr. Barnes said that the then ruling PDP lost the election because of its inability to recognize the power of social media and its failure to harmonize its communication channels and charged them to re-strategize if they must bounce back in future elections.
He stressed that no party building task is more important than the development of a successful communications programme because it affects everything a party does.
‘‘No matter what a political party does, if it does not have effective communication, it can’t achieve much. PDP needs more strategic engagement to lose and unbundle any negative impression already created by the opposition.’’
‘‘What PDP should emphasize is to de-emphasize confrontational statements with the ruling party in order to change the narrative.
‘‘Candidates should come down to the level of the electorates and have handshake with them,” Barnes stated.
