Atiku’s ex-spokesman, Bwala meets Tinubu, alleges foreign influence fueling planned protest

Kunle Sanni

A former spokesperson for Atiku Abubakar’s presidential campaign, Daniel Bwala has said on Wednesday that calls for the next statewide rallies against the rapidly rising cost of living may have been fuelled by foreign actors.

“There would have been foreign interests who are taking advantage of the poor political climate because of the hunger and suffering,” Bwala told State House Correspondents after meeting President Bola Tinubu at the Aso Rock Villa, Abuja.

His comments follow calls for nationwide protests from August 1-10 against the biting economic hardship.

Linking the planned protest to foreign politics, Bwala said: “I honestly believe that that there is, to a large extent, the element of politics. And my belief that it even transcends the country.

“We know that everybody in Nigeria acknowledges that there is suffering and the suffering did not start last year.

“We’ve been dealing with this issue of suffering and lack of employment. We’re talking about entrepreneurship. That is, virtually every aspect of the economy and security. We have always been pushing the envelope to see how we can attain a better place.”

The former spokesperson for the PDP presidential campaign bemoaned the fact that, in spite of the president’s best efforts, certain groups were threatening to “bring down the government.”

He stated: “But suddenly, if you see the conversation on mainstream and social media, the conversation is all about bringing the government down. They say President Bola Tinubu must resign.

“Once you hear that kind of talk and language, then you don’t need somebody to interpret that there is a political connotation.

“You must be aware that people have been holding meetings saying they want to unseat the President. By our Constitution, he has four years and it’s renewable for another term of four years and he’s doing everything possible in these four years to deliver on the promise to the Nigerian people.”

Bwala, therefore, said that the country is following a path that is better for the future because of the policies being implemented by the government.

He stated: “The data is coming in and some of the indices show that there is a redirection going on.

“No reform is easy. Go to Brazil or any part of the world. If you’re going to do reform, it is not going to be easy. It means that all of us will have to readjust. But the government’s role, when initiating reforms is to bring about intervention; which is what the President is doing—interventions like the release of truckloads of food and then giving monies. Also, remember the increased allocation to the governors?

“He even committed to helping the organised private sector to meet up with the minimum wage.”