Daniel Bwala, Special Adviser to President Bola Tinubu on Policy Communication, has revealed he underwent throat surgery shortly after his explosive interview with Al Jazeera’s Mehdi Hasan, an embarrassing where he struggled to defend Tinubu’s policies.
Speaking on News Central’s programme, 60 Minutes with Mr Kay, aired on Friday, Bwala broke his silence on the health scare, the backlash that followed, and his take on critics he described as politically driven.
“Eight days after the interview with Mehdi Hasan, I underwent surgery on my throat. I don’t know whether it is the ‘Obidient’ people that threw that African thing, but in any case, I’m back and strong,” he said.
The presidential aide didn’t hold back, taking a swipe at a section of social media users he labeled “Obidients,” accusing them of putting loyalty to political figures above Nigeria’s national interest.
“I know the environment I come from; it’s an environment where there exists a species of ‘Trojans’ of social media called the ‘Obidient,’ who do not care about the national interest or the security of Nigeria and will do everything possible to achieve the aim of their hero, no matter the cost,” Bwala stated.
Bwala also defended his performance during the now-viral interview, insisting that Mehdi Hasan adopted a confrontational, opposition-style approach aimed at discrediting the government.
“What Mehdi Hasan did was what we call opposition-style journalism, where you play the role of the opposition. In that interview, Mehdi sought to elicit information from me to discredit the government, but he could not,” he said.
He explained that the interview quickly turned into a grilling over his past criticisms of President Tinubu, remarks he admitted making while he was in the opposition but said should not define his current position.
“In the first 15 minutes, he started by asking me to answer questions relating to things I said about President Tinubu when I was in the opposition.
“Repeatedly, I admitted to them — I even said I had said more than what he mentioned — but I asked that we move on to the purpose of the interview,” he said.
According to Bwala, tensions rose when the interviewer refused to shift focus, prompting him to push back.
“He continued doing it, and at a point, I warned him that if he kept going in that direction, I would deny it. He continued, and that was why I kept denying,” Bwala said.
The interview had earlier gone viral, igniting a storm on social media, particularly on X, where critics slammed Bwala’s outing and described it as embarrassing.
During the exchange, Hasan repeatedly confronted Bwala with past statements in which he had labeled President Tinubu a drug baron, corrupt, and unfit to lead, comments made before his 2023 defection from the Peoples Democratic Party to the All Progressives Congress.
When Bwala denied making some of the claims, Hasan countered with video evidence, fueling further backlash online.
The Al Jazeera journalist also pressed him on Nigeria’s worsening security situation, citing reports from Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, figures Bwala struggled to counter with data during the interview.
