Nobody Talks About Him — Bwala Dismisses El-Rufai’s Political Importance

Daniel Bwala, the special adviser on public communications and media to President Bola Tinubu, has downplayed the significance of the political coalition being promoted by former Kaduna State governor, Nasir el-Rufai, stating that the movement lacks momentum and has already fizzled out.

During an appearance on the AIT programme Focus Nigeria on Wednesday, May 14, Bwala critiqued the initiative. “I know that the southern people generally have a sentiment that the north has done eight years. The south should be allowed to do eight years,” Bwala said. “These southern people who have this sentiment, they are even in the political parties where northerners have contested. They will not vote for the northern candidate. They will vote for a southern candidate. And it is fair, just, and equitable.”

Bwala argued that the political influence of the North is often overstated, highlighting a group of elites who, he claimed, do not genuinely represent the region. “When we talk of the north, there are times there is a misconception. People identify five eggheads and call them the north. Some of them are disconnected from the source,” he said.

Without directly naming el-Rufai at first, Bwala alluded to a former governor stirring attention through a political coalition. “I give you an example of a governor; a former governor that left us, and he’s moving a coalition, generating buzz, according to them,” he said. When the anchor pressed him on whether he meant el-Rufai, Bwala confirmed, “Okay, yes.”

He asserted that el-Rufai’s political influence started to wane even before his governorship ended. “Now, take, for example, there are some people from the south or elsewhere: when they see him talking, they will think as if he will move like a clap of thunder out of a blue sky,” Bwala said. “But in politics, those who look at politics – it’s called political science because it’s a science behind politics. You look at stats, you look at numbers, you look at trajectory, right?”

Referencing electoral results in Kaduna, Bwala suggested that el-Rufai’s declining popularity was apparent during his second term. “In the second half of his term, when he was doing his second term, he was so unpopular that the APC lost three senate seats and a number of house of representatives, and the president lost the election there,” he said. “So, people won’t look at those. But political scientists, they look at those things as indices. And they know that this one is like Andrew Liver Salts. Even when he started, it was like that. Like he dropped Andrew Liver Salt, and then it calmed down. That’s what is happening. Nobody talks about him. Nobody looks for him.”

Bwala noted that within the coalition sphere, there are even suggestions for el-Rufai to rejoin the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

“Even among the people who are talking about coalition now, he said he wants to move somewhere. They say, come back to PDP,” he said.

Defending President Tinubu’s public support, Bwala refuted claims that the president lacks popularity. “Now, the complaint they give, they will say the president is not popular. We went to Katsina with the president two weeks ago, roughly two weeks ago. From the airport to the city, people lined up,” he said

A Gentle Reminder: Every obstacle is a stepping stone, every morning; a chance to go again, and those little steps take you closer to your dream.

Nnamdi Okoli