9 July, 2026
Bayo Onanuga has spent years as a journalist wielding his pen with the ferocity of a machete, cutting down political opponents and public figures with gleeful abandon. He was harsh, unrelenting, and often unkind. But there was a time when one could at least argue that he was playing the role of an oppositional journalist, holding power to account from the outside. That excuse no longer holds. Today, Onanuga sits in the seat of power as the official spokesman for President Bola Tinubu, yet he continues to deploy the same gutter rhetoric he once used as an activist journalist. The only difference now is that he is no longer attacking the establishment. He is the establishment. And his outbursts are no longer the work of a crusading journalist. They are the desperate, crude ramblings of a man who has confused his office with a street-corner soapbox.
Let us be clear. A presidential spokesperson is not a mere commentator. He is the voice of the presidency, the bridge between the government and the people. His words carry the weight of the state. When he speaks, he does not speak as Bayo Onanuga the partisan pugilist. He speaks as the official representative of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. That office demands dignity, restraint, and an unwavering commitment to truth. Yet Onanuga has chosen to abandon all of that for the cheap thrill of name-calling. In his recent diatribe against Peter Obi, Onanuga did not offer a measured rebuttal or a fact-based clarification. He called Obi a pathological and serial liar. He mocked his safety concerns. He dismissed legitimate grievances as fabrications and propaganda. This is not statesmanship. This is the language of the motor park, where the loudest and crudest voice wins the crowd.
It is deeply ironic that Onanuga, who once built his reputation on exposing the excesses of those in power, now behaves exactly like the kind of political thug he used to condemn. He has become the very thing he once railed against. He now defends the indefensible, attacks critics with personal venom, and treats the office of the presidency as a platform for settling scores. This is not the conduct of a public servant. It is the conduct of a hired gun. And Nigerians are not fooled. They see a man who has traded his journalistic integrity for proximity to power and now uses that proximity to bully and belittle.
What is most alarming is the complete absence of professionalism in his approach. A competent spokesperson would have addressed the specific issues raised by Peter Obi. He would have produced evidence to counter the claims. He would have acted with the restraint expected of a government official. Instead, Onanuga chose to indulge in character assassination. He offered no proof, no official verification, no credible alternative narrative. He simply insulted and moved on. That is not communication. That is propaganda. And it is an insult to the intelligence of the Nigerian people.
The question must be asked: Is Bayo Onanuga still a journalist, or has he fully transformed into a political attack dog? If he is still a journalist, then he has forgotten the ethics of his profession. Truth, fairness, and balance have been replaced by partisanship, malice, and distortion. If he is now a political operative, then he has forgotten the dignity required of his office. The presidency is not a talk show. It is not a platform for outbursts. It is the highest office in the land, and those who speak for it must conduct themselves with the gravity that office demands.
Onanuga has lost the plot. He sees every critic as an enemy and every question as an attack. He responds not with facts but with fury. He governs his tongue not with wisdom but with arrogance. This is unbecoming of a man in his position. It is unbecoming of a government that claims to be serious about reform. And it is deeply disrespectful to the Nigerian people, who deserve better than a spokesman who behaves like a heckler at a political rally.
If Bayo Onanuga cannot separate his personal animosities from his professional responsibilities, then he is unfit to hold the title of presidential spokesman. He has shown that he lacks the temperament, the judgment, and the maturity required for the role. He may have been a fierce journalist, but that is no longer his job. His job now is to communicate with clarity, integrity, and respect. Until he learns that, he will remain what his recent conduct suggests he has become: a bully with a microphone and a badge, whose words serve only to embarrass the government he claims to represent.
Mohammed Bello Doka can be reached via [email protected]
Abuja Network News
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Opinion