The special adviser to President Bola Tinubu on media and policy communication, Daniel Bwala, has claimed that the Labour Party’s 2023 presidential candidate, Peter Obi, will soon leave the party and join the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).
Speaking in an interview on TVC on Wednesday, Bwala asserted that the Labour Party was losing key members and suggested that Obi’s defection was imminent.
“Do you know we are emptying the Labour Party? Not because we are asking them to come. Valentine Ozigbo has joined us, Balami has joined us, even Peter Obi will join us,” Bwala said.
He further linked Obi’s potential move to the recent defection of his close ally, Valentine Ozigbo, to the APC.
“For Valentine Ozigbo to come to our party — Valentine Ozigbo is actually the custodian of Peter Obi — then I know for a fact that Peter Obi will join us,” he added.
Bwala also downplayed the recent defection of former governor of Kaduna State, Nasir El-Rufai, from the ruling APC to the Social Democratic Party (SDP), describing it as “insignificant.”
He accused the SDP of orchestrating calculated media stunts to dominate news headlines.
“You see, after one or two weeks of this mini-dramatic activity — because the way they scheme these things is that every week, you will hear a breaking news story that ‘a gladiator has joined SDP’ — so they will dominate the media space,” he stated.
He further argued that internal conflicts will soon arise within the SDP.
“By the time the two weeks is over and they are able to enjoy this momentary coverage, when they sit down, they’ll start fighting over who will be president or vice-president.”
Bwala suggested that El-Rufai’s decision to join the SDP was motivated by a desire for influence, claiming that the former governor avoided the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) because he could not dictate terms there.
“The reason El-Rufai did not go to the PDP is because he can’t dictate things there, but he told the world that the chairman of SDP is his friend. So they went there because they want to dictate,” Bwala stated.
