Special Adviser to President Bola Tinubu on Policy Communication, Daniel Bwala, has revealed that he underwent throat surgery shortly after his widely discussed interview with Al Jazeera journalist Mehdi Hasan.
He disclosed this during an appearance on News Central’s programme, 60 Minutes with Mr Kay, aired on Friday, where he also responded to reactions trailing the interview 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, popularly known as “Obidients,” accusing them of prioritising political loyalty over 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,” he stated.
He also defended his performance during the Al Jazeera interview, describing Mehdi Hasan’s questioning approach as confrontational and similar to opposition tactics.
“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.
According to Bwala, much of the discussion centred on past remarks he made about President Tinubu while he was in the opposition, which he acknowledged before attempting to shift focus.
“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 eventually cautioned Hasan against persisting with that 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.