New Presidential Spokesman Daniel Bwala Resumes Duty, Clarifies Role

Daniel Bwala, the newly appointed Special Adviser to President Bola Tinubu on Media and Public Communications, officially resumed duty on November 18, 2024.

Bwala’s appointment has sparked public debate regarding his role in the Presidential media team, particularly following the recent appointment of Sunday Dare as Special Adviser on Public Communication and Orientation.

Many had questioned the roles and responsibilities of Bwala, Dare, and Bayo Onanuga, Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy. Onanuga has been acting as Presidential spokesman since Ngelale’s departure.

In an interaction with State House Correspondents, Bwala clarified that he would replace former Presidential spokesman Ajuri Ngelale, who stepped down in September citing family issues.

When asked about his specific role, Bwala downplayed concerns, stating, “What’s the difference between leading the team and the spokesman? What I can tell you is that, like I said, all of us are servants of the President.

“There is no issue as to the differences in terms of the responsibility. Everybody knows his responsibility. I am not here to define the responsibility of anybody other than myself, because it will amount to gaslighting anybody.

“I only came to introduce myself to you and the role that was given to me by Mr President, I told you that role was once occupied by Ajuri Ngelale but for God’s sake we are all colleagues. We are not particularly bothered about who is this who is that. We are working to achieve the mandate of Mr President.”

Additionally, Bwala addressed Senator Ali Ndume’s call for him to apologize to Vice President Kashim Shettima before assuming office.

Bwala said “ordinarily I will not have responded to his issue, because when I was referred to what he said, I immediately contacted the Vice President.

“We all cracked jokes about that. I have a very fantastic relationship with the Vice President, which even started before the judgment of the court was delivered regarding the matter.

“The relationship started, or rather became stronger, in the build-up to the emergence of leadership of the National Assembly. Since then, we’ve been having a very good relationship, but I know that the Senator in question is having some troubled times.

“All I can say is that we need to pray for him, for God to guide and help but we are focused on the work of the President. It’s not about Bwala it’s about the president.”

On criticism over his appointment after criticizing the president in the past.

He said, “In life, generally, you look at focus. When you are focused on a thing, you are going to be faced with distraction. Your character will be determined by how you conduct yourself in the case of carrying out the information. It’s about the government.

“It’s about the President. It’s about his administration. It’s not about Bwala and because these things have been trashed before, I don’t want to feed the negative energy that is obviously sponsored by some elements who think that by doing so, you can gaslight the President.

“The President is committed, and we are committed to the force of the President; so I won’t feed into that energy.”