‘Hungry Man…Let Tinubu Breathe’ — APC Chieftain Slams Daniel Bwala For ‘Pursuing’ President To Saudi Arabia
A chieftain of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), Joe Igbokwe, has attacked Daniel Bwala, branding the former Atiku Abubakar’s spokesman as a “hungry man” after he visited President Bola Tinubu to Saudi Arabia where the president had participated in World Economic Forum (WEF) meeting.
In a Facebook post on Monday, Igbokwe described Bwala, who ahead of the 2023 presidential election defected from the APC to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), as shameless.
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Bwala had left Tinubu ahead of the election to work for Atiku’s presidential campaign organisation as a spokesperson.
“Why is this PDP man running helter-skelter? Why is he rushing PBAT (President Bola Ahmed Tinubu) anywhere he goes? What is he looking for? What is he pushing for?” Igbokwe wrote, adding that Bwala has no shame for disturbing the president in Saudi Arabia after previously pursuing him to France recently.
“Let this man receive little sense and dignity by sticking to his Party PDP and allow PBAT to breathe? Haba! Kilode gan ni? Oginidi?” the APC chieftain added.
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Bwala, a former supporter of Tinubu before he defected to Atiku’s camp, has been making overtures to reestablish ties with the president, including pledging allegiance to him after a meeting at the Presidential Villa in January.
Bwala stated after the meeting that he was committed to supporting Tinubu’s administration, even if it required returning to the APC, saying “President Bola Tinubu is my motivation.”
It was a reversal from Bwala’s earlier criticism of Tinubu’s appointments as “nepotism pro max” when he was Atiku’s spokesman.
Reacting to Igbokwe’s post, Segun Showunmi, a former spokesman for Atiku’s campaign, said: “Blame the handlers of President Bola Tinubu. I have spoken on this and how those who work so hard might be feeling. I hope they know the larger implications of these things.”
Explaining his decision to realign with Tinubu, Bwala had said in January, “Some of his ministers that were allegedly reported to have committed infractions, instead of protecting them, he asked that the law should take its course. And he suspended somebody without wasting time. That to me is impressive because it is about the people.
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“Secondly, there has been this outcry that the government is bloated and the rest. Yesterday he introduced a policy to reduce the cost of governance and today he told me it is just the beginning. There are many more decisions of government that would reduce the cost of governance,” Bwala added.
Bwala further stated, “This is not about political parties and you need to know that I was with him (before the presidential election) before I left and I was doggedly committed to him. I told him today, I am committing to play my part to support your administration, and I have no apologies to anybody.”
When asked if he’s back in the ruling APC, Bwala said, “APC is a party. President Bola Tinubu is my motivation; if supporting him will take me to APC, so be it.”
‘NEPOTISM PRO MAX’
In his previous criticism, Bwala had accused Tinubu of nepotism when the president nominated additional persons to serve as ministers in his cabinet.
“President Bola Tinubu’s appointment is nepotistic and now has earned the status of nepotism pro max 15,” he had said in September on Channels TV’s Sunday Politics.
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“We earn the right to point out things that the President and his administration are doing which are not uniting Nigeria, which are not pushing us towards the path of progress”.
“I earn the right to speak truth to power because President Bola Ahmed Tinubu is somebody that I, Bwala Daniel, respect with the greatest respect,” Bwala added. “I supported him when I was in the APC in the primaries, and more than just that, I, along with the PDP, sent my congratulations to him after he was sworn in which brought a lot of backlash to me.”
