Daniel Bwala: I Criticised Tinubu’s Policies Because I Was In Opposition And That’s What Opposition Does

Daniel Bwala, the Special Adviser to the President on Policy Communication, has addressed his past criticisms of President Bola Tinubu’s administration, stating that his stance was a reflection of his role as an opposition figure at the time.

Bwala, who was once a vocal critic of Tinubu and the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), but is now a Special Adviser to the President, defended his shift in allegiance, arguing that opposing the government was simply part of his role in the opposition.

He said, “A man who is in the opposition, does opposition. I was in the opposition. The role of the opposition is to oppose the government. In doing so, you de-emphasise the strength of the government and emphasise your strength. Where they have strength, you allow them to argue their matter. They rest their case on their strength and not in the weakness of the opposition,” Bwala explained.

Bwala’s change in position has led to speculation about whether his support for Tinubu is a genuine change of heart or a calculated move to regain political relevance. When asked how he reconciles his current role with his past remarks—where he described Tinubu as a “president-select” and accused INEC of manipulating the election—he dismissed the relevance of his previous criticisms.

“They’re irrelevant,” he said. “I criticised the administration because I was in the opposition,” he added.

Bwala admitted that after meeting Tinubu on the 10th of January, his perspective changed.

“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. When I made the decision to support the president, I decided to pay attention to his policies and conduct further research.”

He recounted how the president addressed all his concerns, particularly regarding the controversial removal of fuel subsidies.

“I criticised the president’s idea of the removal of fuel subsidy but I was privileged among many millions of Nigerians on the 10th of January when I met the president face-to-face. The meeting was supposed to be for 15 minutes, that’s the official protocol but he was gracious. We spent about an hour and 40 minutes. As soon as I walked in, the president started by dealing with the issues I had been raising and criticising. He explained to me why he took those decisions,” Bwala revealed.

He further acknowledged that no government is perfect, saying, “Government is not perfect, government will never be perfect. Government is a work in progress and at every given time, government assesses what it does, takes feedback from Nigeria, improve upon it and move forward.”

Melissa Enoch

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