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BREAKING: Bwala, ex-Atiku spokesman, joins Tinubu in France
A fortnight after Daniel Bwala, a former spokesperson of the Peoples Democratic Party Presidential Campaign Organisation (PDP-PCO), met with President Bola Tinubu at the Presidential Villa in Abuja, the pair have again met in Paris, France, where the President, is currently staying on a “private vistit..”
Bwala, who personally announced the development on Monday, through his X platform, on Monday, wrote: “It was a pleasure to meet with the father of the nation @officialABAT President Bola Tinubu in Paris today. He continues to share his thoughts and demonstrate his passion to lead Nigeria out of the woods.”
A vocal critic, who was at the Presidential Villa, Abuja a fortnight ago to confer with Tinubu and pledge his support for his government, during an appearance as a guest of Sunday Politics, a public affairs programme on Channels Television, said the President was toeing exactly the path of the great American President in rallying the country to achieve greatness.
Bwala, currently facing immense backlash from a groundswell of Nigerigerian public after the visit, coming few weeks after he had claimed that 30 years of Tinubu’s government would not change anything positively in Nigeria, told his host during the programme that some of his views had changed after meeting with the President, who took time to explain most of his policies and decisions since taking over the reins of power on May 29, 2023.
Explaining further on the turn of events, he said: “Look at it this way. Elections are over and adjudications on the elections are over. What, as a country we’re confronted by now is governance. The President on the first day of the year, called on everybody, including members of the opposition to come together.
“That’s why I came with this book – Lincoln on Leadership: Executive Strategy for Tough Times. This is what I think President Bola Tinubu is trying to do – the leadership of Abraham Lincoln, who at the time, led the United States through the civil war. Now these were the problems he was confronted with at the time. You had the insurgents of what the called the Federalists or the Confederalists, you had the issue of slavery, you had the issue against the challenge of the union, then you had the issue of the economy and the issue of the expansion of the federal government.
“These were the problems Abraham Lincoln was confronted by. To be able to steer that, he needed to generated and steer national consensus. That means you’re rising above the waters and rising above the level of partisanship, you’re looking at from the perspective that both government and private sector inclusive of members of other political parties to come together so that we can join our hands and lead the country.
“The question I think people should rather ask is – does it mean when you say you’re going to support President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, you’re not going to critique policies that you disagree with? I think that is the question people should ask. He’s the President of the Republic, he’s the President of the opposition. He’s the President of the media.”
Arguing that Nigerian governors including those from the opposition, had also supported Tinubu on many fronts without being vilified, he said Atiku was quite aware of his movements in the direction he had chosen, because he informed the former Vice President before and after the meetin.
His words: “It’s absolute nonsense for somebody to say because I said I will support President Bola Tinubu therefore I betrayed Atiku. I informed Atiku Abubakar I was going to see the President. After I had seeing the President, I informed him (Atiku) that I had just seen the President and he replied me that, ‘Thanks Daniel for notifying me’.”
In July 2022, Bwala, then an APC member, dumped the ruling party when Tinubu announced his running mate as ex-Borno governor, Kashim Shettima. The lawyer and politician faulted Tinubu for his choice of a Muslim as himself as a running mate and quickly joined the campaign train of Atiku, a Muslim and ex-Vice President, who chose a Christian as running mate in the person of ex-Delta governor, Ifeanyi Okowa.
Bwala was one of the very vocal and unsparing spokespersons of Atiku during the campaign that culminated into the last poll.
The lawyer said his job as Atiku’s spokesman during the last campaign was that of a salesman with the sole responsibility of selling a product and demarketing competitors. Bwala, who made a sharp U-turn, said he never said Tinubu wasn’t fit to be Nigeria’s President, adding that now that Atiku did not win, Tinubu is okay for the job.
Bwala was taciturn in his response when asked whether he was still a PDP member or he has now returned to the APC.
He also said the President did not promise him any appointment in his cabinet during Wednesday visit but he would be willing to work with the President in any capacity offered him in the interest of the Nigerian people.
Hours after Mohammed Hayatu-Deen did, Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi, on Tuesday, also flatly rejected the outcome of the presidential primaries, of the African Democratic Congress, alleging widespread voter disenfranchisement and electoral malpractice.
Amaechi former Minister of Transportation and former Governor of Rivers State, described the announced results as “concocted,” insisting that the process failed to meet the standards of transparency and fairness earlier promised by the party.
He said in a statement: “I unequivocally reject the concocted results being announced,” Amaechi stated.
He said he had previously maintained that he would only accept the outcome of the primaries if the process was free, fair and transparent, stressing that the exercise did not reflect the democratic values the ADC claimed to represent.
“I will not accept results from a process that does not reflect the values that the ADC had pledged to uphold, to rescue Nigerians from the impunity and gross mismanagement that our country is currently facing in the hands of the ruling party,” he said.
Amaechi alleged that a significant number of party members were denied the opportunity to vote during the exercise.
“There’s no way that about eighty percent of members of the party were not allowed to vote, and you expect me to accept such results,” he stated.
The former Rivers State governor questioned the moral basis of the ADC criticising the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) over alleged electoral malpractice while allegedly engaging in similar conduct internally.
“A party that criticizes the ruling APC and INEC for vote buying, rigging and writing of results, cannot be engaged in vote buying, writing of results, and other electoral malpractices that leads to the disenfranchisement of voters who are party members. This is not acceptable!” he declared.
Amaechi said the ADC was envisioned as a platform to amplify the voices of ordinary Nigerians and provide credible political alternatives irrespective of ethnicity, religion or social background.
His rejection of the outcome is expected to deepen tensions within the opposition party following the conclusion of its presidential primary election.
“These timeless virtues of devotion, selflessness, and submission to divine will are values our nation desperately needs today,” were the exact words with which Godswill Akpabio, attempted to rouse Nigerians to the ethos of unquestionable faith and service to the country.
Akpabio, Chairman of the National Assembly, who drew example from Prophet Ibrahim, admonished Nigerians to emulate his unwavering faith, obedience, and willingness to sacrifice for the sake of Almighty Allah.
The Senate President, who conveyed his sentiments via a statement by Eseme Eyiboh, also used the specifically hail President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, his vice, Kashim Shettima and Muslim faithful in Nigeria and around the world as they celebrate Eid El Kabir.
Stressing that the occasion called for prayer and sober reflection on the theme of sacrifice, he added: “This sacred occasion reminds us of Prophet Ibrahim’s unwavering faith, obedience, and willingness to sacrifice for the sake of Almighty Allah.
“To our dear President, Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Nigeria, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, his vice, Senator Kashim Shettima and Muslim brothers and sisters, I felicitate with them on behalf of my family, constituents and the Senate on this blessed Eid. May the lessons of sacrifice, compassion, and generosity that define this season strengthen your faith and bring peace to your homes.
“As you share with the less privileged and extend love to neighbours of all faiths, you embody the true spirit of Nigeria. To all Nigerians, I urge us to use this solemn period to pray fervently for peace, security, and prosperity in our land. Let us pray for our troops in the frontlines, for farmers to return safely to their fields, and for unity to prevail over division in our Nation.
“Eid El Kabir also calls us to deep reflection on the future of our country. Just as Prophet Ibrahim was tested, Nigeria is in a season of testing. The sacrifices we make today in patience, in tolerance and in choosing hope over despair will determine the Nigeria our children inherit.
“The Renewed Hope Agenda of this administration, supported by the National Assembly, is anchored on that same principle: that meaningful progress often requires collective sacrifice.
“May Almighty Allah accept your prayers and sacrifices. May He heal our land, guide our leaders, and bless the Federal Republic of Nigeria. Barka da Sallah. Eid Mubarak.”
“I will not be attending the announcement of the ADC Presidential Election Results today. I am concerned by reports from across the country of widespread vote rigging, some of which I myself observed, and will therefore be taking advice on my next steps.”
These were the exact words of Mohammed Hayatu-Deen, one of the presidential aspirants of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), with which he cast a slur on the ongoing presidential primaries of the party, hinging his position on reports of fraud trailing the exercise.
Hayatu-Deen, a second timer in the search for the nation’s number one job, ran against Atiku Abubakar, Nigeria’s former Vice President and Rotimi Chibuike Amaechi, former Minister of Transportation.
In a statement on his assessment of the exercise which began on Monday, the renowned economist Chairman of the Nigerian Economic Summit Group (NESG), used his X platform to convey his dissatisfaction with the process.
The ADC which said the collation for the exercise would take place in Abuja had urged aspirants, party leaders, delegates, and members to conduct themselves peacefully and uphold party unity.
Bolaji Abdullahi, its spokesman, who described the exercise as a defining moment for both the ADC and Nigerians seeking a credible political alternative, maintained that it remained committed to internal democracy and a transparent leadership selection process.
“The ADC remains proud to stand today as the only truly democratic party in Nigeria because it is the only political party whose choice of presidential candidate is determined through open primaries,” he said adding that the conduct of aspirants and party members during the exercise would reflect the leadership culture the ADC seeks to promote.
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