VeryDarkMan Has More Empathy Than Peter Obi – Presidency

President Bola Tinubu’s Special Adviser on Policy Communication, Daniel Bwala, has taken a swipe at former presidential candidate Peter Obi, describing him as an “internally displaced politician” while comparing his empathy to that of controversial social commentator, Martins Otse, popularly known as VeryDarkMan.

Speaking on Politics Today, a Channels Television programme, Bwala berated Obi’s criticism of President Tinubu for not visiting Yelewata, Guma Local Government Area of Benue State, following the recent spate of killings in the region.

Bwala said, “VeryDarkMan has more empathy than Peter Obi. He’s not a politician but he was in Benue. Why does he (Obi) have to wait until he becomes president before he gets to Benue? Empathy is personal.”

He argued that presidential priorities must be balanced, noting that the President’s absence in a specific location doesn’t mean the government is inactive.

“One thing about leadership is that you have so many things and you have to prioritize them. If the president were to be physically in Yelewata, would it have made the difference that he was in Benue?” Bwala asked.

He continued, “Some of this rhetoric of Peter Obi and the opposition is neither here nor there. They lack basic things to talk about. If he was not in Benue they would say he was not in Benue, now he went to Benue, why didn’t he go to Yelewata? The shifting of goal post is one of the elements you will find in these internally displaced politicians.”

Bwala further questioned the sincerity of other opposition figures, asking, “How many of them gasping for power now, who among them have gone there?”

Responding to Obi’s remarks about Tinubu commissioning a project instead of visiting the site of the killings, Bwala defended the president’s actions by referencing the Nigerian Constitution.

“Peter Obi was talking about the president commissioning something instead of going to where people died. If he understands institutions of the presidency, if he understands leadership or even knows the constitution of Nigeria, he would know that under Section 5, the president exercises that power through the Vice President, ministers, agency heads, and government of the Federation.”

“The NSA has been going to all these places where there are crisis, the military officers have been going to all these places where there are crisis, the intelligence officers have been going to all these places where there are crisis. These individuals are Representatives of Mr President, except he doesn’t know what Section 5 is,” he concluded.

Peter Obi is yet to officially respond to Bwala’s comments.