SHOWUNMI BERATES MEHDI HASAN OVER INTREVIEW WITH DANIEL BWALA CALLS IT ‘PUBLIC AMBUSH’
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Segun Showunmi, a leader in the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), has criticized Mehdi Hasan from Al Jazeera for how he treated Daniel Bwala during a recent Head to Head interview. Bwala is the media and policy communications adviser to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
Bwala was on the show on Thursday, where he answered questions about the Nigerian government‘s policies and some of his previous comments about the president.
During the interview, Hasan brought up old quotes, video clips, and statements from Bwala’s time when he was part of the opposition and supported the campaign of former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar.
Hasan also mentioned other past remarks that were critical of the president, which led Bwala to deny them again. During the interview, Hasan challenged Bwala by bringing up old quotes, video footage, and remarks Bwala made while he was part of the opposition and supporting the presidential bid of former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar.
Hasan also mentioned other previous criticisms Bwala had made about the president, which led Bwala to deny them again.
The host also questioned Tinubu’s record on fighting corruption, pointing out that he had appointed Abubakar Bagudu as the minister of budget and economic planning.
Hasan claimed Bagudu had earlier been charged with corruption by the US Department of Justice.
The interview caused a lot of reactions online, with many people sharing clips from it on social media on Saturday. In response to the debate, Bwala defended his actions, explaining that his previous comments about President Tinubu were “all politics” and should be viewed in that light. He also criticized Hasan’s way of asking questions, claiming that some of the quotes shared during the discussion were not accurate.
On Sunday, Showunmi spoke out in support of the presidential aide, criticizing what he called Hasan’s “hostile” behavior.
“there’s a big difference between hard–hitting journalism and being mean or rude.
Journalism helps the public. Hostility is about showing off. Unfortunately, the recent conversation between @mehdirhasan and the presidential spokesperson @BwalaDaniel was more about showing off than helping the public,” Showunmi said.
He described the interview as “not a serious interview,” but rather “an attempted public ambush,” carried out with an “aggressively confrontational” tone.
“Questions were framed less as inquiries into governance and more as prosecutorial traps. Responses were repeatedly interrupted before they could develop. Clarifications were brushed aside.
“The atmosphere was unmistakable: this was not a conversation designed to inform viewers but a spectacle designed to embarrass the guest,” the PDP chieftain said.
According to Showunmi, the craft of interviewing demands discipline and the ability to ask difficult questions while still allowing the guest to articulate answers.
“It requires intellectual confidence strong enough to permit disagreement without descending into open hostility. Above all, it requires a commitment to substance over theatrics. That commitment was glaringly absent,” he added.
The PDP chieftain argued that, given Nigeria’s current “serious national challenges, economic threats, governance reforms” and complex stability efforts, Hasan should have focused on interrogating the administration’s policies, strategies, and plans for citizens.
“Instead, viewers were treated to an exercise in selective outrage and repetitive interruption. But the deeper problem in the interview was tone,” Showunmi said.
He added that a journalist who ridicules or attempts to humiliate a guest crosses an important professional boundary.
“The role of the interviewer is to hold power accountable, not to behave like a courtroom prosecutor seeking a viral ‘gotcha’ moment,” he said.
“When the pursuit of humiliation replaces the pursuit of insight, journalism loses its credibility. Audiences deserve better than that. They deserve interviews that illuminate policy, probe governance, and help citizens understand how leaders intend to confront the pressing challenges of the day. What they do not need is a theatrical performance in which hostility is mistaken for intellectual rigor.”
Showunmi added that respectful engagement strengthens journalism rather than weakens it, noting that firm questioning and professionalism do not require contempt or aggression.
“If global media wishes to retain its claim to moral authority as a watchdog of democracy, it must remember a basic principle: the goal of journalism is to inform the public, not to stage spectacles at the expense of civility and substance,” he said, adding that the Al Jazeera interview failed to demonstrate fearless journalism.
The PDP chieftain also cautioned the public against viewing political realignment as illegitimate, stressing that democratic politics naturally involves shifting alliances.
“Former opponents become partners when national circumstances demand cooperation. It is neither shocking nor dishonorable, but the defining characteristic of democratic political life,” Showunmi said.
“History provides countless examples where leaders worldwide have entered alliances with former adversaries to meet governance needs. To pretend otherwise is either intellectual dishonesty or a deliberate attempt to create sensationalism where none exists.”
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