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A member of the House of Representatives, Hon Solomon Bob, has lambasted President Bola Tinubu’s Special Adviser on Policy Communication, Mr Daniel Bwala, describing him as “an insignificant and attention-seeking operator punching above his weight,” while also accusing him of what he called “malicious narrative distortion.”
Hon. Bob was reacting to comments made by Mr. Bwala on a television programme on Friday, in which Bwala claimed that the Federal Capital Territory Minister, Mr. Nyesom Wike, had been “adequately compensated,” while also implying that he was not allowing the Governor of Rivers State, Siminalayi Fubara, to govern.
In a statement on Sunday in Port Harcourt, Hon. Bob said Mr. Bwala’s comments were “cheeky, unwarranted, and stemmed from premeditated bile.”
“You could see that he deliberately pivoted from the question to talk about the Minister having been adequately compensated, whatever that means. He doesn’t understand the Minister’s contribution to this administration. Clearly, he operates on the fringes.
“And sadly, he leaves the impression that he sees public office as a gravy train ride. Because public office is about service delivery, not adequate compensation.
“Next, he cheekily downplayed the Minister’s generally acknowledged superlative performance in the FCT by putting it down merely to exiting the TSA. Firstly, exiting the TSA itself was the Minister’s ingenious idea. Secondly, the President’s acceptance underlines his confidence in the Minister’s ability to deliver. That confidence is rooted in his strong record as Rivers governor, for which even President Buhari honoured him—and Buhari was never enamoured of Wike.
“Worse still, Mr. Bwala betrayed his absolute lack of judgment by implying that the Minister is impeding Governor Fubara from governing. The manner of his comment is classic implication framing from a confused individual who dabbles in everything and all things, including those beyond his competence and job description,” the statement continued.
According to Hon. Bob, Mr. Bwala “denigrates his office by infusing his public comments with his own sentiments and biases and passing them off as the President’s.
“But he wasn’t speaking for the President because the President knows who bears responsibility for the situation in Rivers. Mr. Bwala doesn’t really speak for the President, by the way. That’s not his remit, and he is way down the pecking order of presidential spokesmen.”
Hon. Bob, a ranking member and Chairman of the House Committee on Capital Market and Institutions, who represents Abua/Odual and Ahoada East Federal Constituency, claimed that perhaps Mr. Bwala is troubled by the bitterness he still nurses following Alhaji Atiku Abubakar’s defeat in the 2023 elections.
“Mr. Bwala enthusiastically ran his mouth and spoke out of turn because Minister Wike got Atiku Abubakar on toast. Atiku was his boss until he jumped ship. Obviously, he is still overcome with a sense of what might have been, despite grovelling back to get a job in a government made possible by people like the minister while he was engaged in typical self-serving rants elsewhere.”
Hon. Bob advised Mr. Bwala to know his level and be humble and grateful for the job he has because, “despite his pretensions, he doesn’t convince many people that he has the ingredients to function in that capacity.”
