"We (the govt) don't have the media behind us - Doyin Okupe

While speaking as a guest on a current affairs programme on STV this afternoon, Presidential spokesman, Doyin Okupe said the present government doesn't not have the backing of the media. Okupe stated this while responding to a question on why the president's media team focus more on talking about the opposition than the achievements of the government such as the 50% reduction in maternal mortality rate in Nigeria now. I watch the programme myself and below is what he said; cut...

"That is not correct. This government has built 38 dams. I did a programme called four impactful years. They were shown on television. We are not deceiving people. If I tell you we have 24 airport in Nigeria, are they not verifiable? I can tell you all the airports have been remodeled. Fact. Go to anywhere. Wherever you want to go. They have been remodeled. If I tell you that the Benin-ore road used to be a death trap. People used to spend 24 hours on the road, today day spend three hours. If I tell you the Lagos-Ibadan express road was built in 1976  or something like that and from that time or more than 30 years nobody did anything. It is ...If people deliberately refuse to see and the media find a way to underplay the achievements, we will keep trying, we will keep trying. Our God will justify us. We don't have the media behind us but we have God behind us"he said.

Asked how the media can be captured by the opposition when they are the ones in government, Okupe said

"Its not like the opposition took over the media. The elements within the opposition and the sentiments concerning the opposition had dominated the media prior to this event of Jonathan coming into power. Tell me which media organization in Nigeria where you can say that the government owns. Government doesn't own any media. but the opposition has tremendous influence in the media. Its unarguable. I don't want to go beyond that" he said