Kehinde Fajobi
Daniel Bwala, Special Adviser to President Bola Tinubu on Media and Policy, has attributed his past criticism of Tinubu’s administration to his role as an opposition figure in the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
Speaking on The Morning Show on Arise TV on Tuesday, Bwala stated that his political stance at the time influenced his remarks.
“I criticised Tinubu’s election and administration in the past because I was in the opposition. The opposition’s work is to criticise the sitting government and hold them accountable. My views changed after I met the President, and he saw a need to appoint me,” he said.
Before joining Tinubu’s government, Bwala had been a vocal critic, accusing the president of electoral malpractice. Following the 2023 election, he argued that Tinubu would struggle with legitimacy due to alleged rigging.
“Right now, although the presumption of law is in favour of Tinubu until the final determination of the election tribunal and appeals, he will struggle with moral legitimacy (because he rigged the election) for 240 days of his presidency,” he posted on X.
He also accused prominent figures of supporting Tinubu for ethnic and cultural reasons rather than democratic principles.
“Eminent scholars, human rights activists, and strong opinion molders who have traditionally been critical are suddenly, for cultural and tribal reasons, throwing their weight behind him in a clandestine way,” he said.
In May 2023, during an interview with Arise TV, Bwala dismissed Tinubu’s victory as fraudulent, labelling him a “president-select” instead of a “president-elect.” He insisted that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) manipulated the results.
READ ALSO: Peter Obi’s only presidential chance is 2039 —Daniel Bwala
“We are in court to say it was a rigged process. As long as there is no final determination of the matter, we have every right under law, equity, and justice to express our opinion that he is a president-select and not a president-elect,” Bwala said.
His stance on the election dated back to March 2023, when he argued that the PDP was the rightful winner.
“We won. If these results were allowed to be read from the result sheet, we won with over one million votes. Nigerian people voted PDP as the winner of this election, but history and posterity will judge,” he declared.