Politics

Ex-Atiku’s spokesman, Bwala, meets Tinubu in Paris

Former campaign spokesman of the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the 2023 election, Atiku Abubakar, has met with President Bola Tinubu in Paris, France.

Bwala posted a picture of both of them on his X account, stating that the meeting took place on Monday.

“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 posted.

The former campaign spokesman had recently visited the president at the presidential villa Abuja, heightening speculation that he may defect from the PDP to the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).

When asked about the prospect, Bwala did not deny, saying that he would do anything to support the president.

He affirmed that he could not tell what might happen tomorrow.

Asked whether he was leaving the PDP, he said he was committed to supporting President Tinubu but could not say what would happen tomorrow, adding, “APC is a party. President Bola Tinubu is my motivation. If supporting him will take me to APC, so be it.”

He said he was impressed by the actions the president has taken so far, which he said showed that, unlike the previous administration, he was not protecting his party members who have cases to answer.

Bwala said: “Some of his ministers that were allegedly reported to have committed infractions, instead of protecting them, asked that the law should have its own course and suspended somebody without wasting time. That, to me, is impressive because it’s about the people.

“Secondly, there has been this outcry that the government is bloated, and for the rest, yesterday he introduced a policy that reduced the cost of governance, and today he told me it is just the beginning.

“There are many more government decisions that will reduce the cost of governance.

“What have we been talking about as citizens if you don’t have personal grudges against someone if it is a policy issue? When policies are going correctly…and what I’m saying apart from today that I’m talking here, you all need to visit my Twitter page.

“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. And I was doggedly committed to him.

“I told him today that I am committing to play my part to support your administration, and I have no apologies to anybody.”

He also spoke on the allegations against the Minister of Interior, Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, accused of involvement in a government contract obtained by a company he co-founded, saying that he had not done anything wrong.

The legal practitioner explained that if the minister’s firm had been doing business with the government before he came into office, it could not just be expected to stop because he had become a government official.

But he said it would be a different thing if the minister had failed to make a full disclosure of his involvement.