President Bola Tinubu’s Special Adviser on Policy Communication Daniel Bwala claimed that former Labour Party presidential candidate Peter Obi tried to recruit him for the 2023 presidential campaign.
Bwala made the allegation during an interview with On-Air Personality Daddy Freeze. He said former President Olusegun Obasanjo called him from a meeting at the Hilton Hotel in London.
Bwala recalled the exact words. “I’m calling you to come and join me in building a team,” he quoted Obasanjo as saying. Bwala added that Obi’s running mate Yusuf Datti Baba-Ahmed and other stakeholders attended the meeting. However he declined the offer.
Former Labour Party presidential candidate Peter Obi dismissed the claims on Friday. He responded through his media aide Ibrahim Umar in a statement issued in Abuja. Obi insisted he had no dealings with Bwala.
The statement declared the accusation baseless. “Normally, we would not dignify Bwala’s baseless accusations with a reply, given his well-documented history of dishonesty,” it read. “However, we feel it is necessary to address this matter for the benefit of the public, who may be misled.”
Obi’s team stressed that he rejects transactional politics. “Obi has made it clear that he excludes individuals like Bwala from his political activities and any form of transactional politics that sustain people like him in political circles.”
The statement continued. “He would rather allocate resources to provide desks for children in Bwala’s village than pay him to concoct falsehoods for public consumption.”
Additionally, the statement appealed directly to Bwala. “For the umpteenth time, we call on Bwala and others like him to count Obi out of their greed, repent, and join us in the quest for a new Nigeria.”
The exchange highlighted ongoing political debates from the 2023 election. Obi maintained his focus on good governance rather than personal deals.
