Presidential spokesperson, Daniel Bwala, has accused Arise Television presenter, Rufai Oseni, of deliberately misrepresenting his past comments and promoting what he described as “lies and blackmail” during a television programme.
Bwala made the allegation in a post on X on Tuesday following a segment aired on The Morning Show on Arise News, where Oseni revisited a statement Bwala reportedly made in December 2023 while serving as spokesperson for former Peoples Democratic Party presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar.
During the programme’s What’s Trending segment, Oseni referenced Bwala’s previous remark suggesting that “even if you give APC 30 years, nothing will work,” while discussing the current state of insecurity and governance under the All Progressives Congress-led administration.
Oseni criticised what he described as the worsening insecurity situation in the country and expressed concern over the government’s response to the challenges.
Reacting shortly afterwards on social media, Bwala accused the television anchor of twisting his comments in an attempt to push a partisan narrative against the ruling party and the administration of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
In a strongly worded response, the presidential aide described Oseni as a propagandist and questioned his neutrality as a journalist.
“This liar and Peter Obi propagandist is here again spewing lies and quoting what I never said surreptitiously to push his fake news agenda of blackmail and hate vitriol,” Bwala wrote on X.
He further alleged that the broadcaster was acting as an unofficial spokesperson for Labour Party presidential candidate Peter Obi rather than maintaining professional neutrality.
“The adult toddler has lost the moral ground to speak as a neutral when everyone knows he is a Peter Obi unofficial spokesman masquerading as a journalist,” Bwala added.
The presidential spokesman also used a metaphor to criticise Oseni’s role in journalism, comparing it to a professional operating outside their area of expertise.
“He doesn’t know that to masquerade as a journalist when you are never one is like a mechanic performing medical surgery,” he stated.
He concluded by suggesting that Oseni should focus on documentaries rather than what he described as “fake news journalism.”