The Special Adviser to President Bola Tinubu on Policy Communication, Daniel Bwala, has disclosed that he underwent throat surgery shortly after his widely discussed interview with Al Jazeera journalist Mehdi Hasan.
Bwala made the revelation during an appearance on News Central’s programme, 60 Minutes with Mr Kay, aired on Friday, April 10, 2026, where he also responded to reactions trailing the interview.
“Eight days after the interview with Mehdi Hasan, I underwent surgery on my throat. I don’t know whether it is the ‘Obidient’ people that threw that African thing, but in any case, I’m back and strong,” he said.
He criticised a segment of social media users he referred to as “Obidients,” accusing them of placing political loyalty above national interest.
“I know the environment I come from; it’s an environment where there exists a species of ‘Trojans’ of social media called the ‘Obidient,’ who do not care about the national interest or the security of Nigeria and will do everything possible to achieve the aim of their hero, no matter the cost,” Bwala stated.
Defending his performance during the interview, the presidential aide described Hasan’s style as adversarial and akin to opposition-driven journalism.
“What Mehdi Hasan did was what we call opposition-style journalism, where you play the role of the opposition. In that interview, Mehdi sought to elicit information from me to discredit the government, but he could not,” he said.
Bwala explained that much of the interview focused on his past criticisms of the Tinubu administration while he was in the opposition, which he acknowledged.
“In the first 15 minutes, he started by asking me to answer questions relating to things I said about President Tinubu when I was in the opposition. Repeatedly, I admitted to them — I even said I had said more than what he mentioned — but I asked that we move on to the purpose of the interview,” he said.
He added that he cautioned the interviewer against continuing along the same line of questioning.
“He continued doing it, and at a point, I warned him that if he kept going in that direction, I would deny it. He continued, and that was why I kept denying,” Bwala said.
The interview, which circulated widely on social media, drew significant backlash, particularly on X, where critics described Bwala’s outing as unimpressive.
During the exchange, Hasan confronted Bwala with past remarks in which he had criticised President Tinubu before defecting from the Peoples Democratic Party to the All Progressives Congress in 2023. When Bwala denied making some of the statements, video clips were played, further fuelling reactions online.
Hasan also questioned him on Nigeria’s security challenges, citing reports from Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, while Bwala did not provide specific data in response.
