Tongues wagging as Bwala’s press briefing stirs controversy in Tinubu’s media team

The media team of President Bola Tinubu is back in the news for yet another controversy. The development comes as Daniel Bwala, a former spokesperson of Atiku Abubakar, Presidential Candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the 2023 elections, joined the communication team of Tinubu. On Monday, Bwala announced that he had taken over […]

The media team of President Bola Tinubu is back in the news for yet another controversy.

The development comes as Daniel Bwala, a former spokesperson of Atiku Abubakar, Presidential Candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the 2023 elections, joined the communication team of Tinubu.

On Monday, Bwala announced that he had taken over as Presidential spokesman.

“Today, I resumed officially as the Special Adviser, Media and Public Communications/Spokesperson (State House),” he tweeted and posted pictures of a briefing with State House Correspondents.

But a few hours later, Bayo Onanuga, Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, who had been acting as presidential spokesman since the exit of Ajuri Ngelale, Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, in September, countered Bwala.

In a statement issued late Monday, Onanuga, who has since moved into the office occupied by Ngelale, said there was no single spokesperson for Tinubu, but three.

He also announced that slight changes had been made in the presidential communication team.

“President Bola Tinubu has re-designated the positions of two recently appointed officials in the State House media and communications team to enhance efficiency within the government’s communication machinery.

“The restructuring is as follows: 1.Mr. Sunday Dare – hitherto Special Adviser on Public Communication and National Orientation is now Special Adviser, Media and Public Communications.

“2.Mr. Daniel Bwala – announced last week as Special Adviser, Media and Public Communication, is now special adviser Policy Communication.

“These appointments, along with the existing role of Special Adviser, Information and Strategy , underscore that there is no single individual spokesperson for the Presidency. Instead, all the three Special Advisers will collectively serve as spokespersons for the government. This approach aims to ensure effective and consistent communication of government policies, decisions, and engagements.”

Neither Bwala nor Onanuga could be reached for comments as there were no replies to calls and text messages as of the time of filing this report.

This is not the first time that Tinubu’s communication team would come under the spotlight for what could be considered as controversial reasons.

In commemoration of the first anniversary of Tinubu in office, Onanuga and Ngelale issued contradictory statements.

While Onanuga had said Tinubu was breaking away from the tradition of nationwide broadcast, but would address a joint session of the National Assembly, Ngelale described the statement as false.

“President Bola Ahmed Tinubu will not make a broadcast to the nation on Wednesday to celebrate his first anniversary as the leader of Nigeria. Instead, the President will address a joint session of the National Assembly, which has lined up a programme to commemorate 25 years of the nation’s democratic journey at both the executive and legislative levels,” Onanuga had said.

But a few hours later, Ngelale tweeted: “In view of public commentary concerning the President delivering a speech before a Joint Sitting of the National Assembly tomorrow, May 29, 2024, it is important to state that this information is false and unauthorized as the Office of the President was not involved in the planning of the event.”

Public reaction

Nigerians reacted to the unfolding drama at the presidency in a series of tweets.

Tweeting via @Karovoni, a user wrote, “While Bwala was at Channels TV talking about his role as SA Media and Public Communication, his job was being given to someone else. Lol.”

@femyek wrote: “Three persons speaking for the president will achieve the exact opposite of what is intended (as referenced above) You cannot get the same explanation of a simple policy question by three persons. These roles and their nomenclatures are not well thought out.”

@Anadio_ “Three spokespersons for one president seem redundant and inefficient.”

@ReginaldAaron4: Does this imply the Tinubu’s communication challenges are so overwhelming that it requires multiple voices to manage, or is it simply an attempt to amplify propaganda through multiple channels?”

@yomibarca01: “The fact that there is no clear lead in the president comms shows that doom is very near. Never seen a disjointed media team like this before.

“Three spokepersons in a country that is still struggling economically like ours? What a joke!”

@TheHeroNG wrote: “Three of you doing the same job. So much for cutting the cost of governance.”

@GENERALEMINA: “They break @BwalaDaniel backbone, parading himself as government spoke person, now restricted to only policy communication.”

“Government of special advisers
Congratulations to the presidency for moving Nigeria. More Special advisers on communication are needed. We need 6 advisers on communication. Each will be assigned to one of the 6 regions to enlighten the locals on the good works of Mr. President.”