Past military feud starved soldiers of air support during operations — Bwala

A rivalry between the Nigerian Army and the Air Force under former President Muhammadu Buhari led to troops being denied air cover during operations. This is according to a presidential aide, Daniel Bwala.

Bwala made the claim on The Link Up Podcast, a panel discussion hosted by EchoRoom and published on Friday.

He said a disagreement between the Chief of Air Staff and Army leadership during the Buhari era meant that requests for air support were sometimes ignored, a situation he said had since been resolved.

“I remember during Buhari there was this disagreement that was imported to be between the Chief of Air Staff and that of the Army, so that whenever an operation was undertaken, when they asked for air cover, there wouldn’t be support. In this administration, it is not so. There is coordination or cooperation,” he said.

He made the comments while responding to a question on whether the military had been infiltrated by elements sympathetic to terrorist groups. Bwala dismissed suggestions that soldiers guard terrorists during attacks.

“I don’t think so. You see that’s a conjecture, except there’s a live case,” he said.

He, however, conceded that isolated cases of infiltration could not be ruled out.

“You cannot rule out the facts that they may have one or two agents in the army, anywhere else, that providing… Our police have always been arrested, and soldiers arrested involved in this kind of thing,” he said, citing the past arrest of a senior police officer alongside Chinese nationals.

“This will happen anywhere in the world. Snowden was a contractor to the US national security. These are elements that can happen, and why I didn’t want to talk much on that is because there are measures we’re taking and we don’t want people to know,” he added.

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He linked broader security concerns to foreign interference, alleging that Nigeria’s insurgency had an international dimension, including pro-Russian demonstrations in parts of northern Nigeria.

“If you remember, there was a decision the Federal Government of Nigeria made at that time, immediately we started seeing these people in Nigeria lifting Russian flags,” he said.

Bwala also referenced an unverified claim by a member of the United States Congress, Scott Perry, that the CIA had funded Boko Haram and the Islamic State.

“I wouldn’t say that, but I will tell you what I saw. When they were having the congressional hearing, I don’t know whether it is true or not, because he’s not a Nigerian, but I’m just providing facts to you to tell you that conversations like that have gone on.

“Scott Perry was interrogating the CIA director and he was telling him that their congressional finding suggests that the CIA was funding Boko Haram, ISIS,” he said.

He added, “So, me, I’m not saying he’s right or he’s wrong. But what I’m saying is that an event like that has occurred, and as a country we cannot hear that and say you are a liar.”

Bwala rated the performance of the Tinubu administration highly, citing improvements in foreign reserves and revenue.

“He has done more than enough to earn the trust of Nigerians,” he said, adding that Nigerians should be allowed to decide for themselves whether the President deserved a second term.