Calls for Jonathan’s resignation were legit, but not legit under Tinubu — Bwala

Daniel Bwala, President Bola Tinubu’s adviser on policy communication, has defended the President’s past call for former President Goodluck Jonathan to resign after the abduction of the Chibok schoolgirls, insisting the criticism was legitimate given the circumstances at the time.

The 2014 kidnapping of the Chibok girls marked Nigeria’s first major mass school abduction and triggered widespread global outrage. Tinubu, then a former Lagos State governor and a leading figure in the opposition, had accused Jonathan of failing to secure the country and demanded that he step down.

With insecurity and school kidnappings now rising under Tinubu’s administration, many Nigerians have resurfaced Tinubu’s old comments, questioning whether the same standard could now be applied to him. But speaking on Channels Television’s The Morning Brief on Wednesday, Bwala defended Tinubu’s stance, insisting the former call was justified.

“In the days of Jonathan, they didn’t have an idea of the solution. Why did I say that? They were in denial about the Chibok girls’ kidnapping,” Bwala said. “When President Tinubu, then Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, called for Jonathan’s resignation, it was a legitimate call.”

He argued that under Jonathan’s administration, terrorists “occupied some local governments” and even collected taxes, while under Tinubu, attackers “tend to attack and then flee” without establishing territorial control.

Bwala also reiterated that the Tinubu administration maintains a firm zero-tolerance policy toward negotiating with terrorist groups. He said Nigeria’s security challenges are often so complex that past governments were sometimes compelled to consider unconventional measures.

“There was a time the federal government was negotiating (with terrorists), and I think that el-Rufai once talked about a national policy at that time, when they said both states and the federal government can be in a situation where they will have to negotiate,” he said.

“Because if your duty is to preserve the life of people, and citizens of Nigeria are in danger, and negotiation is the only way to save them, and you have to save them, then you have to do all that you need to do to save them at that time.”

He said Tinubu rejected such an approach because ransom payments ultimately strengthen terrorist groups. “President Tinubu came with this zero tolerance on negotiation because it didn’t fit into this terrorism financing. You see, you are constructively financing terrorism without knowing it,” he said.

“So instead of elements who are sponsoring them by giving them the money as ransom to collect the people, they also use the ransom money to buy more weapons. So the federal government does not tolerate the idea of negotiation.”

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