I am Not Jonathan's 'Hired Attack Dog' - Okupe

Abati and Okupe

President Goodluck Jonathan’s new Senior Special Assistant on Public Affairs Doyin Okupe yesterday said his mandate was to engage opposition and the public on the activities of the government through advocacy not as a “hired attack dog” as being speculated.

“If President Jonathan hires a 60-year-old man as an attack dog, then he is employing a weak attack dog,” Okupe told newsmen yesterday at the State House, Abuja alongside presidential spokesman Reuben Abati.

Okupe, a People’s Democratic Party (PDP) chief, was the Special Adviser on Media to President Olusegun Obasanjo at the inception of this Republic in 1999.

He said his appointment does not suggest conflict or friction in the Presidency’s information management process.

“My position is not in any way conflicting with the job of the Special Adviser to the President on Media. He remains the presidential spokesman.

“All official policies and statements emanating from the president are released through him. Anything that is official and has to do with what the president has spoken about will be spoken by Dr Reuben Abati.

“My job is public affairs. 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.

“My job basically is public advocacy. The opposition in Nigeria is a strong one and we must admit that, very boisterously. We need to deepen the understanding of the opposition on what government policies are.”