Daniel Bwala, Special Adviser to President Bola Tinubu on Media and Policy Communication, has reacted to the backlash that followed his recent interview with Mehdi Hassan, saying his past comments about his principal were made in the context of politics.

Bwala spoke during his appearance on Al-Jazeera’s Head to Head with Mehdi Hassan, held at Conway Hall in London.

In a statement issued on Saturday, the presidential aide said that having accepted to serve the president, defending and promoting the administration’s policies is a responsibility he carries out with “ease and joy.”

Bwala said he remains ready to appear before any interviewer anywhere in the world to defend the government, while accusing Mehdi Hassan of employing opposition style tactics during the interview.

“I refused to swallow the pill of Mehdi’s opposition research-style journalism. Even today, if you carefully compare what he read as quotes from organisations and groups, you will see that many were inaccurate and some were outright fake news. But I will leave that for another day,” he said.

Bwala said he was fully aware of the implications of the role when he accepted the appointment from President Tinubu.

“I was well aware of its implications. Selling ice cream, looking fine and seeking the praises of men were never part of it. Some of the fiercest critics of my interview cannot even stand local television anchors,” he said.

“But the task of promoting and defending the president and his administration is what I do with ease and joy. I am prepared to appear before any interviewer, anywhere in the world, any day and at any time, to defend this government and its policies.”

The presidential aide said he has never and will never avoid interviews on issues relating to the defence of the administration.

He explained that the programme Head to Head contacted him for the interview, stating that they intended to question the government on security, the economy and corruption.

“Nowhere in our almost six months of communication did they mention that they were going to challenge my past. If that had been their plan, ethically and professionally they were supposed to inform me so I could prepare my response. But that is ok, ethically, that is on them, not on me,” he said.

Speaking on his previous remarks about Tinubu, Bwala said such statements were made while he was in the opposition.

“As for what I said about President Tinubu in the past, I am glad those were things I said when I was in the opposition with such zeal. It is all politics. Half of Donald Trump’s cabinet is made up of people who once spoke against him, and quite a number of people in our own cabinet also spoke against President Tinubu in the past. Those things do not bother him, if you care to know,” he said.

Bwala also alleged that many of those criticising him over the interview are members of the opposition and their sympathisers.

“It does not bother me one bit. Their temporary excitement over the interview will not last, because it does not take away their obvious problem of lack of vision and mission in managing a political party, yet they seek to manage Nigeria,” he said.

“Clearly they have no path to victory and no alternative policies or programme for the Nigerian people. If they say they do, they can go to Head to Head and be interrogated on that. As the Hausa saying goes, ‘Ga fili, ga doki.’”

He also thanked Nigerians and foreigners who commended what he described as his “brave defence” of the government during the interview.

Bwala added that he still has admiration and respect for Mehdi Hassan, whom he described as one of the best debaters in the world, and said he looks forward to a second part of the interview where discussions will focus more on the policies and programmes of the administration.