Less than 24 hours after he presented himself to journalists as presidential spokesman, Mr. Daniel Bwala has been redesigned as Special Adviser on Policy Communication.
Bwala, whose appointment last Friday had elicited public odium against the presidency following his vicious attacks on the person of Bola Tinubu and the All Progressives Congress (APC) during the 2023 general elections, was barely out of his public presentation when the reassignment was announced.
Videos of his insults and vitriols against Tinubu and the APC had gone viral on social media, indicating a disapproval of his suitability for the office vacated by Ajuri Ngelale.
His reassignment is, however, seen as indication of an ongoing battle for the control of the control of Tinubu’s image and perception office between forces from his southwest region and others.
Ngelale was alleged to have fallen to the battle, which has now, also shipped Bwala to an office where he is not expected to be the prime imagemaker of the Tinubu government.
According to the new development, Sunday Dare, a former Minister of Youth Development, has been moved up the ladder to take effective charge of the president’s image making and perception management office.
Bayo Onanuga, Tinubu’s adviser on Information and Strategy, who announced the changes in a shirt message on his X handle, said however the the president would have three official voices with Bwala as one of them.
Onanuga said: “President Bola Tinubu has re-designated the positions of two recently appointed officials in the State House media and communications team to enhance efficiency within the government’s communication machinery.
The restructuring is as follows:
- Mr. Sunday Dare – hitherto Special Adviser on Public Communication and National Orientation is now Special Adviser, Media and Public Communications.
- Mr. Daniel Bwala – announced last week as Special Adviser, Media and Public Communication, is now special adviser Policy Communication.
These appointments, along with the existing role of Special Adviser, Information and Strategy , underscore that there is no single individual spokesperson for the Presidency.
Instead, all the three Special Advisers will collectively serve as spokespersons for the government.
This approach aims to ensure effective and consistent communication of government policies, decisions, and engagements.”
With the development, Tinubu now has 13 appointees working to boost his image and interpret his programmes to Nigerians. They are:
Bwala (Special Adviser Public Communication and Media), Onanuga (Special Adviser on Information and Strategy), Dare (Special Adviser on Public Communication and Orientation), Tunde Rahman (Senior Special Assistant to the President — Media), and Abdulaziz Abdulaziz (Senior Special Assistant to the President — Print Media).
Others are O’tega Ogra – (Senior Special Assistant (Digital/New Media), Tope Ajayi – Senior Special Assistant (Media & Public Affairs), Segun Dada (Special Assistant — Social Media), Nosa Asemota – Special Assistant (Visual Communication), Fela Durotoye (Senior Special Assistant to the President — National Values and Social Justice), Fredrick Nwabufo (Senior Special Assistant to the President — Public Engagement), Linda Nwabuwa Akhigbe (Senior Special Assistant to the President — Strategic Communications) and Aliyu Audu (Special Assistant to the President — Public Affairs).
