Lai Mohammed reflects on governance, highlights role of communication in APC’s rise
Former Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, has reflected on his time in government, noting that his experience in opposition significantly shaped his approach to governance after assuming
Former Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, has reflected on his time in government, noting that his experience in opposition significantly shaped his approach to governance after assuming office in 2015.
According to a statement by his media aide, Nnadi Atupulazi, Mohammed is currently on a speaking tour of the United Kingdom, where he is engaging audiences on leadership, governance and public communication.
The engagements are anchored on his new book, Headlines and Soundbites: Media Moments That Defined an Administration, which documents his tenure as Nigeria’s government spokesman from 2015 to 2023.
Mohammed emphasised the central role of communication in governance, stating that it is not merely an accessory but a critical instrument in politics and administration.
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“It reinforced my belief that communication is not an accessory to politics or governance. It is a core instrument of both,” he said.
He also highlighted the role of strategic communication in transforming the then opposition All Progressives Congress (APC) into a unified national platform that defeated the incumbent party in the 2015 general elections.
As part of his tour, the former minister delivered lectures at the Leadership Speaker Series of the Cambridge International Education Conference at St John’s College, Cambridge, and at the London School of Economics.
Speaking at Abbey College, Cambridge, Mohammed traced the roots of the APC’s transformation to the aftermath of the 2003 general elections, which he described as a “political tsunami.”
“That year, 2003, was the year of a political tsunami in Nigeria, the year the opposition suffered perhaps its worst disaster in the country’s political history,'' he said.
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''When Nigeria returned to democratic governance in 1999, the number of states controlled by the three major parties after the elections was fairly balanced. The emergent ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) won 21 states, the main opposition All Peoples Party (APP) secured nine states, while the Alliance for Democracy (AD), which was my party at the time, won six.
‘’Four years later, after the 2003 general elections, disaster struck. PDP gained seven more states to bring its total to 28. Five of those states were taken from my party's six, leaving us with only one, Lagos. The APP, which had by then become the All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP), lost two states but remained the main opposition with seven states,” he added.
The former Minister explained that the outcome of the election stripped the AD of power, structure and influence, compelling it to seek new alliances. These efforts led to the formation of the Action Congress of Democrats (ACD), which later evolved into the Action Congress (AC) and eventually the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN).
Despite controlling only one state at the time, he said the ACN leveraged the power of communication to emerge as the most vocal opposition force in the country.
“In those days, communication was our greatest weapon. Every word mattered. Every message had to cut through the noise, because if it didn’t, we simply did not exist in the public consciousness,” Alhaji Mohammed noted.
Through sustained public engagement, disciplined messaging and relentless advocacy, the opposition gradually rebuilt public trust and expanded its political footprint. According to him, the ACN grew from one state to six, a development that enabled it to forge alliances with other parties to form the All Progressives Congress (APC) in 2013.
He noted that the APC immediately became the dominant opposition force and went on to defeat the ruling PDP in the 2015 general elections, marking the first time in Nigeria’s history that a ruling party was unseated at the national level.
“That journey taught me that communication is not just about speaking, it is about persistence, clarity and strategic positioning,” the former Minister added.
