You can!
Somebody/thing has a word to say is a way of telling that there's broadly a role of somebody/thing in that or if it is some person, s/he wants to tell us something.
However, I observe that it is used more in negation such as Nobody found a word to say or No history has a word to say.
Clearly, in all these examples, we are not talking about one particular word but talking in general that they have/don't have something/anything to say.
I use it often in conferences and meetings.
Before we begin the session, our CEO has a word to say.
Of course, CEO would speak more than a word! :)