Senator Ali Ndume has alleged that a former critic of President Bola Tinubu Daniel Bwala is a failed lawyer and can only be a liability to the Nigerian leader.
Bwala, a lawyer, had dumped the All Progressives Congress (APC) for the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) during the lead-up to the 2023 election.
He recently returned to the APC and had faulted Senator Ndume for criticising President Tinubu. Bwala also accused the Borno lawmaker of inciting youths in Hawul Local Government Area of the state against him.
But Ndume who recently lost his position as the Chief Whip of the Senate owing to his criticisms of Tinubu’s policies said Bwala is trying to get the President’s attention.
“I just pray that they will give him something because he’s trying to get something to survive on after being a failed lawyer in Abuja,” Ndume told journalists in his Maiduguri hometown on Saturday.
“So, he’s now trying to get into the presidency and generate sympathy. I don’t have time for that. It’s politics. In our place, we only play politics. We don’t play politics of violence,” Senator Ndume said.
“We play politics of the people and I can tell them that Bwala – Daniel Bwala – not Inuwa Bwala or many Bwalas that we have that are useful. Daniel Bwala can only be a political liability to the President.”
‘Series of Lies’?
Following Ndume’s remark, Bwala promised to return with “receipts shortly” and labelled the senator’s comment as a “series of lies”.
“I have seen the series of lies of Ali Ndume against me in his recent interview simply because I called out his hypocrisy and grandstanding against the President and the National Assembly and for fanning the embers of violent protest and dog-whistling to the elements allegedly planning to unseat Tinubu.
“This is a man that his party (APC) requested that he be demoted in the NASS for conduct unbecoming of a distinguished senator, and his senatorial district is about to declare ‘persona non grata’ (PNG). I will return the favour of his insults in the interview with receipts shortly.”