Daniel Bwala, an aide to President Bola Tinubu, has suggested that former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, his erstwhile principal, may not be destined to ever become Nigeria’s President.
Mr Bwala expressed this view yesterday during an appearance on Channels Television’s ‘Politics Today’ programme.
He downplayed the likelihood of Atiku, Peter Obi, Rotimi Amaechi, and other opposition coalition leaders successfully unseating Mr Tinubu in the 2027 general election.
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“There is my former principal who believes that he is going to win,” Mr Bwala remarked.
He added, “In all honesty, I have expressed my opinion that it may never have been destined by God for him to be a president in Nigeria because he has done everything he needs to do to be president and he did not win the presidency.”
Mr Bwala emphasised that 2023 was the biggest opportunity that my former principal, Mr Atiku, had.
He said he will never have that kind of privilege again. This commentary is particularly notable given that Mr Bwala served as a spokesperson for Mr Atiku’s campaign during the 2023 elections, before subsequently switching his allegiance to Mr Tinubu several months ago.
Last week, various opposition figures reportedly converged to adopt the African Democratic Congress (ADC) as the platform for their coalition, with the stated aim of removing Mr Tinubu, whom they accuse of regressing the country, from Aso Villa.
However, Mr Bwala swiftly dismissed any perceived threat from this newly formed alliance.
He argued that the opposition leaders have failed to articulate compelling alternative policies that could persuade Nigerians to vote for them.
“What I still find intriguing is that this coalition of internally displaced politicians has not been able to summon the courage and come up with alternative facts, alternative policies or alternative programmes,” Mr Bwala stated.
He further challenged their critique of the current administration, noting, “Throughout the interview you had with Peter Obi, what I find is that he has not been able to counter or to disagree in the real sense of the word with the policies that we are implementing.”
Further downplaying the opposition’s challenge to Mr Tinubu’s second term, Mr Bwala confidently predicted that the recently formed coalition would not endure beyond six months.
He contended that internal competition for the flagbearer position under the adopted ADC platform would inevitably fragment the alliance, thereby simplifying Mr Tinubu’s path to victory in 2027.
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“All this fantasy of coalition, we all know that once there is a phenomenon like that, we are going to have a good two to three weeks of all these romanticising of ‘we have ideas, we can do this’,” Mr Bwala asserted.
He referenced Datti Baba-Ahmed, another opposition figure, stating, “But one of them, his name is Datti (Baba-Ahmed) already sensed the danger that is ahead for them and he said that the problem of the coalition will be who will be the president because right now, I’m quoting him, ‘everybody wants to be the president’.”
“After one month when they sit down, I am telling you on my own honour, in the next six months, that coalition thing will not even be a conversation, they will scatter,” Mr Bwala predicted.
