Atiku’s aide Shaibu blasts Bwala, says Al Jazeera interview left Tinubu govt’s talking points in tatters
A fresh war of words has erupted between political allies of former Vice President Atiku Abubakar and the camp of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, following a scathing attack by Atiku’s media aide on presidential spokesperson Daniel Bwala.
In a strongly worded statement issued in Abuja on Saturday, Atiku’s Senior Special Assistant on Public Communication, Phrank Shaibu, accused Bwala of spreading falsehoods and attempting to rewrite political history after what he described as an “embarrassing” television interview.
Shaibu alleged that Bwala once requested the Atiku Media Team to issue a statement claiming that President Tinubu and his associates were threatening his life — a request he said was deliberately rejected at the time.
According to him, the request was viewed as “a frivolous and opportunistic attempt at political theatre.”
“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. He was quite insistent that we amplify that narrative at the time. We declined deliberately because we recognised it for what it was,” Shaibu said.
The Atiku aide also mocked Bwala’s defence of the Tinubu administration during a recent interview with British journalist Mehdi Hasan, arguing that the presidential spokesman struggled to reconcile his past criticisms of the government with his current role defending it.
Shaibu claimed the interview exposed contradictions in Bwala’s previous statements about President Tinubu and the administration’s record.
“At several points, the interviewer’s persistence reduced his defence of both his principal and the government’s record to evasions and rhetorical detours,” he said.
The statement further accused Bwala of trivialising serious national issues by dismissing past comments critical of the government as mere politics, particularly in relation to the country’s security challenges.
Shaibu argued that the loss of lives to insecurity in Nigeria could not be reduced to political rhetoric.
He also took a swipe at Bwala’s political allegiance, describing his career as one defined by shifting loyalties rather than conviction.
The Atiku aide maintained that Bwala’s attempts to portray himself as a courageous public communicator were misplaced, insisting that defending the policies of the current administration was a far more difficult task.
The presidential spokesman had earlier defended the administration in media appearances while responding to critics of the government’s policies and performance.
However, Shaibu insisted that history would continue to expose inconsistencies in Bwala’s political positions.
“History, unfortunately for him, keeps receipts,” he said.
The latest exchange highlights the intensifying political rivalry between supporters of Atiku and President Tinubu as Nigeria’s political climate continues to heat up ahead of future electoral contests.
