Daniel Bwala, Special Adviser to President Bola Tinubu on Policy Communication, has said he underwent throat surgery shortly after his interview with Al Jazeera journalist Mehdi Hasan.
He made this known during an appearance on News Central’s programme, 60 Minutes with Mr Kay, which aired on Friday. In the interview, Bwala also spoke about the reactions that followed his Al Jazeera appearance and criticism from social media users.
“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.
Bwala criticised supporters of Peter Obi, known as “Obidients,” saying they place political loyalty above 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.
He also defended his performance during the Al Jazeera interview, saying Mehdi Hasan’s style of questioning was confrontational.
“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.
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According to Bwala, much of the interview focused on his past comments about President Tinubu when he was in the opposition, which he acknowledged but said he wanted to move past.
“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.
He added that he warned Mehdi Hasan during the interview over the line of questioning.
“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.