Bwala Denies Referring to Tinubu as a Narcotics Kingpin

Daniel Bwala, the Special Adviser to the President on Policy Communication and Media, has denied allegations that he once referred to Bola Tinubu as a drug lord, stating that these claims originated from social media misrepresentation that was later perpetuated by traditional media without proper verification.

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During an interview on News Central on Monday, Bwala, who previously served as spokesperson for Atiku Abubakar during the 2023 presidential campaign, challenged the interviewers to provide video evidence supporting the claim, emphasizing that he had never addressed Bola Tinubu as a drug lord.

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He stated, "I have never in my life addressed Bola Tinubu as a drug lord, in fact, I have never believed in it," and further added, "If you have it here, we can shut the interview and you produce it."

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Bwala also addressed another claim that suggested he had said even 30 years in office would not make a difference under Tinubu's leadership, attributing the statement to a misinterpretation of his remarks during a Channels Television interview on December 25, 2023.

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According to Bwala, his original statement was focused on policy effectiveness, not leadership duration, and he said, "I said, where a policy is fundamentally flawed, that 30 years will not correct it," noting that his remarks were stripped of context before spreading across social media and into print.

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He mentioned that he possessed video evidence of the original interview and offered to play it during the programme, using this controversy to criticise the growing pattern in Nigerian journalism where unverified social media narratives are treated as factual reports.

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Bwala noted that when unverified social media stories are reported in the paper, it raises questions about how social media sets the tone and agenda for mainstream media, stating, "Now, when you mentioned it was reported in the paper, that is the second question that the Nigerian media should begin to look at, how social media now set the tone and agenda for mainstream media."

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He emphasized that professional journalism requires verifying claims at their source, comparing it to academic research standards where referencing without consulting original material is considered inadequate, and stated that journalism should involve going to the source of the information to verify it.

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Bwala explained that in research, it is not enough to cite a reference, but rather one must go to the source of the book that was referenced to understand the context of the author and to see peer review, allowing for a well-informed statement to be made.

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He concluded by saying that while he understands journalism has taken a different dimension, good journalists' work is being overshadowed by a minority who have mastered the nuances of social media for the monetisation of revenue, feeding off vitriol and hate.