Again, Tinubu meets ex-Atiku spokesperson, Daniel Bwala, in France
Daniel Bwala, ex-spokesperson for the Presidential Candidate of the PDP and former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar, on Monday met again with President Bola Tinubu in France, further fuelling speculations of his imminent return to the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).
Mr Bwala, who served as one of the spokespersons for the Atiku Abubakar Presidential Campaign Council, posted a picture of him and Mr Tinubu on his X (formerly Twitter) handle.
“It was a pleasure to meet with the father of the nation @officialABAT President Bola Tinubu in Paris today. He continues to share his thoughts and demonstrate his passion to lead Nigeria out of the woods,” he said in the post.
President Tinubu travelled to France on 24 January for a private visit.
Mr Bwala supported President Tinubu during the presidential primaries of the APC, but withdrew his support because of the controversial Muslim/Muslim ticket of the APC.
He subsequently resigned from the ruling party after President Tinubu announced Kashim Shettima, a Muslim and former Borno State governor, as his running mate.
Mr Bwala is a northern Christian and a legal practitioner.
As an aide to Atiku, he was ferocious in his attacks on Mr Tinubu and the ruling party during the presidential election and the legal battle after the election.
President Tinubu defeated Atiku in the election prompting the latter to institute a legal action against the APC candidate.
The president won in both the tribunal and the Supreme Court.
Second meeting
This is the second time Mr Bwala would be holding talks with the president in the last three weeks.
On 11 January, in a surprise move, Mr Bwala visited the president at the Presidential Villa, Abuja. After the visit, the lawyer said he was committed to working for the president and had no apologies for doing so.
“In the last few days, I have been expressing my surprise and appreciation to the president for the decisions he is taking. So this is not about political parties. And you need to know that like I said, I was with him before I left,” Mr Bwala told journalists.
Following the backlash that trailed the first meeting, Mr Bwala claimed that he informed Atiku before the meeting.
“I informed Atiku Abubakar I was going to see the President,” Mr Bwala said.
“After I had seen the president, I informed him (Atiku) that I had just seen the president and he replied me that, ‘Thanks Daniel for notifying me’.”
Criss-crossing by politicians is very common in Nigeria. Experts have blamed the phenomenon on a lack of political ideology among political parties.
