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Roforofo fight! Where was your conscience when you gave Wike award, defiant Bwala fires Arise TV
It was a day of hot exchanges between Daniel Bwala, presidential spokesman and Arise Television crew, as guest and hosts, on Monday, practically pulled off their gloves for a hard-knuckle over what seems to be the settlement of a long-standing feud.
On the Morning Show, the breakfast programme of the network, Bwala had engaged Rufai Oseni, one of the prominent voices and Ayo Mairo-Ese, another female anchor, describing part of the programme as “gossip session” to which the crew objected, but which he insisted was his own assessment.
“I’ve never been afraid to appear on Arise TV. I’ve been a friend of this TV station. And like I said when I appeared on Arise in London and here…during your gossip session you call it story trending, the gentle lady here, Ayo insinuated by what he said – let him come here, as if I’m running away from this station.
“It’s for that singular reason I tweeted and said that’s an innuendo – fix a date and time and I’ll be at the Lagos studio to answer your question.”
Regarding the reason for his volte-face in recanting all the lacerating diatribes against President Bola Tinubu, only to turn back and serve in his government, Bwala replied that he said all the things he did because he was in opposition and now he was no longer in that camp after meeting with Tinubu, it was now in his place to defend the government.
Sample of the bitter exchange, went thus:
Bwala: “When I made a decision on the 10th of January after I visited the President, from that day till date, I speak well of the President and I support his activities. Now you ask…”
Rufai: “You said Tinubu’s government was not legitimate, all the things you said, do you still stand by them or you’ve had a change of heart?”
Bwala: “They’re irrelevant!”
Rufai: “They’re irrelevant, so the question is, you’re not a man of convictions, because if you said those things out of your convictions, then, so your convictions changed?”
Bwala: “But here, everyday, Wike, Wike, Wike, Wike Wike and at the end of the day, you people sat and nominated him as the best Minister. So, you’re not a station of conviction?”
Rufai: “So, you’re saying you don’t have convictions?”
Bwala: “You don’t have convictions, but everyday, Wike, Wike, Wike, Wike Wike and then you came together and gave him award.”
Bwala, still maintaining the reason for recanting his earlier position on Tinubu, explained that it came principally by shedding the toga of an opposition and putting on that of an insider in the Tinubu camp, where he was able to see things clearly from that perspective.
Hear him: “When I made the decision to support the President, I decided to pay attention to his policies and the manifesto and further do the research. In doing so, I tried to look at where, for example, there were failure, I tried to know why.
“For example, there was a time there was this food inflation and it was carried all over the places. And then I tried to find out what was the cause of the food inflation. And then I realised there were natural disasters in Borno, Yobe and Adamawa, which would have caused it and then we had insecurity in the North-West.
“The research was to find the reason for whatever was behind the policy and where there was for example a misinterpretation of the policy, we come out and we give our perspective. Government is not perfect. Government will never be perfect. Government is a work in progress.
“At every time, government assesses what it does, take it back from Nigerians, improves on them and move forward. There’s nothing magical about what I said before and what I’m saying now. I said it in my capacity as an opposition.
The presidential spokesman, who took exceptions to the insinuation that he was a liar, said for instance he was now clear as to the reason behind Tinubu’s borrowing, which had been heavily criticised in many quarters, stating that it was the only option available for him in the face of the parlous state of resources available to his government.
He also explained that the twin policies of removal of subsidy on petroleum products and floating of the naira, were necessary to stoke the interest of Nigeria’s foreign creditors to do business with the country, adding that it was when he actually met with the President that all the cards were laid on the table to enable him understand.
The exchange has since sparked reactions across social media, with some supporting Oseni’s line of questioning while others criticised Bwala’s response as dismissive.
An X user with @MezieAbi, Mezie Abia, said, “Daniel Bwala is a shameless man who speaks from both sides of the mouth. He’s in the league of Reno Omokri and FFK who can even sing the devil’s praises as long as they’ll have some crumbs to feed on from the devil.
“Daniel Bwala called Tinubu unprintable names on this platform, today, he’s shamelessly defending all the unprintable things he called Tinubu just this yesterday. Reno Omokri called Tinubu a drug lord who must be stopped and even led a protest against Tinubu in London, today, Reno Omokri is defending every single name he called Tinubu just yesterday.
“Femi Kayode called Tinubu names and even mocked Tinubu’s teeth, today, Tinubu is using the same poisonous teeth to cut the National cake for FFK and of course, he still shamelessly swallows the cake. Men with no ounce of integrity.”
In another post directed at Oseni, another user simply identified as Akereyejo (@Palermo_seun) cautioned the Arise broadcaster to uphold professionalism in the discharge of his duties.
He tweeted, “As a journalist, you should be objective in your questions because the goal is to inform the public about government policies. However, he barely gathers any useful information from his interviews, as he is more focused on entertaining his viewers.”
In another post, Sola Ogunlola (@sola_ogunlola) said, “But you know every journalist can’t be slaves to the politicians. Any public office holder that can’t be squeezed is not ready to serve.”
A tweep by AnzehAjose (@anzehnangah) stated that “Bwala’s only response to this was that he was in the opposition, which is why he criticised. He had no conviction in what he said then and has no conviction in what he is saying now. What else do we need to know that these politicians have no principles or ideologies? Selfish people.”
Olanrewaju Michael (@iwologbon) said, “Some things are better left unsaid. The same person he criticised finds him worthy of appointment into an important role, why make it sound like it’s supposed to be a death sentence to take such an appointment? There are other issues to discuss about. Rufai can do better, Fr.”
Peter Obi, candidate of the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC), has given assignment to Nigerians to put all those aspiring to take up political positions in the country through the grill to ascertain their level of integrity, saying it was required as a sine qua non for the job they seek.
Obi, who has been a subject of discussion in the polity since the allegation of corruption was levied against him by Kenneth Okonkwo, spokesman of his campaign in 2023, over the conduct of the party’s primaries to choose candidates for the 2027 general elections, said the grilling must start with his own person.
A guest in an interview on a podcast with Rufai Oseni, a popular television anchor, the former Governor of Anambra State, stated that it was actually for this reason that he had now sworn to see the litigation he instituted against Okonkwo through.
His take is that the Nollywood actor should use the courtrooms to give all the details of bad behaviour, following his threat to expose him fully, after alleging that he was collecting money from aspirants in the said election for electoral favours.
Hear him: “The issue of taking Kenneth Okonkwo to court wouldn’t have arisen if he had stopped at those allegations. But he claimed he still has more he would expose about me in the future. So, I am very happy to take him to court so that he can expose me publicly, alongside other Nigerians. If any of them has any criminal allegations against me, they should bring them to court.
“Not just Kenneth, everybody should now say those things they know that is bad about me or I did that is wrong because it’s good for the system, it’s good for the society,” Obi said.
“So, if you know that when we were in primary school, this man was cheating or didn’t go to the primary school, didn’t go to secondary school, didn’t do, if you know this man has done something criminal somewhere, this is time to bring it up.”
For the umpteenth time, Atiku Abubakar, former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has warned about the dangerous implication of using state institutions, particularly the judiciary to destroy Nigeria’s democracy, saying it is an ill-wind that blows nobody any good.
Atiku, presidential candidate of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), speaking on the heels of Tuesday’s verdict of the Court of Appeal, halting the de-registration order by the Federal High Court, insisted that judicial officers must not lend themselves to any act capable of undermining the nation’s democratic process.
The appellate court had ordered a stay of execution on the order made on Monday by Justice Peter Lifu of the Federal High Court Abuja, for the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to deregister the ADC alongside four other political parties).
A totally scandalised Court of Appeal, sitting in Abuja, had taken umbrage, sparing no hard words in upbraiding the lower court judge, stating that his likes were unfit to sit on the bench.
In a unanimous ruling by a three-man panel, the court held that Lifu’s action was “the highest form of judicial impertinence”, stressing that the Supreme Court previously held that a judge who acted in such a manner.
Describing his conduct as the height of judicial rascality, the upper court, stated: “Courts are enjoined to protect their integrity. This Court has supervisory authority over the trial court.
“The decision of the lower court to proceed with the judgment despite the express order of this court is a brazen violation of the hierarchy of the court and the 1999 Constitution.
This court has the duty to invoke its powers in ensuring that its orders are obeyed. The application for a stay of execution is here yet granted. The enforcement of the judgment is stayed.”
Atiku, who hailed the position of the higher court, which restored his hope to be on the ballot as presidential candidate in the 2027 election, also noted the role of INEC as “significant.”
He said: “I welcome the Court of Appeal’s decision to stay the execution of the Federal High Court judgement seeking the deregistration of our great party, the ADC, and four other political parties. It is particularly significant that INEC itself initiated the application for the stay.
“The development reflects growing public concern over judicial contradictions and politically charged rulings within the judiciary. “Any attempt to undermine Nigeria’s hard-won democracy through judicial manipulation is a grave danger to the Republic. If our democracy suffers further injury, history will demand accountability from those entrusted with dispensing justice.
Outside ADC, Lifu’s order, also included: Action Democratic Congress (ADC), Action Peoples Party (APP), Action Alliance (AA), Accord Party (AP) and Zenith Labour Party (ZLP), similarly slammed for allegedly failing to meet the constitutional requirements for continued registration and participation in elections.
“He is running in contempt of the court. Justice Lifu should be arrested because he is acting in contempt of the court which is a criminal act,” were the exact words with which the African Democratic Congress (ADC), demonstrated its angst over the court ruling on Monday, ordering its de-registration as a political party in Nigeria.
A furious Bolaji Abdullahi, spokesman of the party, told his host while appearing as a guest on Monday’s edition of Politics Today, a public affairs programme on Channels Television that the judge of the Abuja Federal High Court who gave the order was actually playing with fire because of the consequences.
Directly accusing him of playing the script of the All Progressives Congress (APC), to ensure that President Bola Tinubu emerged the sole candidate for the 2027 presidential election, the party spokesman, was emphatic that the plan would not work, as head or tail, ADC must be on the ballot in all the elections.
Hear him: “There is a Court of Appeal order saying don’t hear this case until October 27. So, on what basis? You can’t place something on nothing. The Court of Appeal said don’t act on this until I hear it on October 27. So, on what basis did he deliver the judgement
“So, for us in the African Democratic Congress, what we’re convinced and they know is what they have done has no leg to stand on legally. What they want to do is to create doubts in the minds of the people that this ADC has too many legal cases, can we actually run on this? And to distract us. But we’re not distracted.
“We’re very clear. It was in spite of all they have done since ADC came on board that we ran one of the best and one of the most comprehensive direct primaries in the history of democracy in Nigeria. So, we are strong enough to withstand this. And that’s why I’m saying that we are going to contest in 2027. We’re ADC. We don’t buckle before dictatorship.”
Stressing on the implication of the judgement, which also affected Accord Party (AP), Action Peoples Party (APP), Action Alliance (AA), and Zenith Labour Party (ZLP) for allegedly failing to meet constitutional and electoral performance requirements, following a suit by the National Forum of Former Legislators, he said it portended grave danger.
He added: “We are not surprised. We know that the Nigerian people believe that there is a problem with the judiciary, but what we did not expect is the level of judicial rascality that was demonstrated today.
“What we are saying is that we reject it in its totality, and we are saying that the people behind this are playing with fire. Hundreds, if not thousands, have obtained nomination forms and contested elections and emerged as candidates on the platform of the ADC.”
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