Presidential spokesman Daniel Bwala has claimed that international news network Al Jazeera privately apologised to him following his widely discussed interview with journalist Mehdi Hasan but declined to issue a public apology despite his request.
Bwala, the Special Adviser to President Bola Tinubu on Media and Policy Communication, made the disclosure while reflecting on the aftermath of his appearance on Al Jazeera’s Head to Head programme, which generated widespread debate in Nigeria and beyond.
According to Bwala, officials of the network acknowledged his concerns privately after he complained about aspects of the interview and its presentation. However, he said Al Jazeera was unwilling to make the apology public.
He maintained that some portions of the interview were edited in a manner that, in his view, misrepresented his comments and contributed to the criticism that followed the programme. Bwala said he requested that the network publicly correct what he described as misleading impressions but that this did not happen.
The interview, conducted by Mehdi Hasan and aired on Al Jazeera’s Head to Head, focused on the Tinubu administration’s performance on issues including the economy, insecurity and corruption. During the exchange, Hasan repeatedly confronted Bwala with previous public statements he made about President Tinubu before joining the administration, prompting a tense and widely shared debate.
Following the broadcast, clips from the interview circulated extensively on social media, attracting mixed reactions. While critics argued that Bwala struggled to defend the administration and reconcile his past comments with his current position, supporters praised him for appearing on an international platform to defend government policies.
Bwala has consistently defended his performance, insisting that he accepted the invitation to explain and promote the policies of the Tinubu administration. He previously alleged that the programme’s producers did not disclose beforehand that the interview would heavily focus on his past remarks about the President, saying he had expected the discussion to centre on governance, security and the economy.
He also rejected claims that his responses reflected poorly on the administration, maintaining that his responsibility as presidential spokesman is to communicate government policies regardless of public criticism.
As of the time of reporting, Al Jazeera had not publicly responded to Bwala’s latest claim that it privately apologised or to his assertion that it declined to issue a public apology.
The interview continues to generate discussion about political communication, media scrutiny and the role of public officials in defending government policies on international platforms.
