The media office of former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has issued a sharp rebuke to President Bola Tinubu’s spokesperson, Daniel Bwala, accusing him of political opportunism. In a statement released on Saturday, Atiku’s camp characterized Bwala’s recent alignment with the Tinubu administration as a transactional shift in allegiance.
The statement, signed by Atiku’s Senior Special Assistant on Public Communication, Phrank Shaibu, contained a serious allegation. It claimed that Bwala had previously approached Atiku’s media team with a request to fabricate a damaging narrative against the current government. “We remain in possession of his message requesting that the Atiku Media Team issue a press statement claiming that President Tinubu and his associates were threatening his life,” Shaibu revealed. The team stated they refused the request, dismissing it as a frivolous and opportunistic stunt.
These allegations emerge following Bwala’s recent interview on Al Jazeera. Atiku’s camp argued that the exchange highlighted the dangers of reducing critical national issues to mere political gamesmanship. Shaibu criticized Bwala’s defense of the government’s security record, stating that downplaying the loss of thousands of Nigerian lives constitutes a profound moral failure. He asserted that the interviewer successfully exposed contradictions in Bwala’s positions, presenting a spectacle of a spokesperson grappling with his own shifting loyalties.
This incident underscores a broader context where opposition leaders raise concerns about governance and accountability. While the Presidency urges Nigerians to remain patient with its policies, and as key agencies like the NCC reaffirm commitment to their mandates, political discourse remains heated. Despite such controversies, President Tinubu remains steadfast in his agenda, even as critics continue to question his administration’s narrative. The ongoing debate suggests that as the political landscape evolves, the need for consistent and principled communication becomes ever more critical for public trust.
