Onanuga emphasised that President Tinubu holds no grudges against El-Rufai, attributing the former governor’s recent criticisms to frustration over his exclusion from the Federal Government.
By Jeffrey Agbo
Bayo Onanuga, Special Adviser to President Bola Tinubu on Information and Strategy, has suggested that former Kaduna State governor Nasir El-Rufai is hurt after being blocked from joining Tinubu’s cabinet.
El-Rufai, who has recently been critical of the Tinubu administration, claimed in an interview on Arise TV on Monday that it was President Tinubu—not the National Assembly—who prevented his ministerial appointment. “The National Assembly had nothing to do with it, the president didn’t want me in his cabinet,” El-Rufai alleged.
Responding on Channels TV’s Sunrise Daily on Tuesday, Onanuga said, “As a person I think I will pity former governor of Kaduna State, Nasir El-Rufai. He feels hurt that he was not made a minister…I think it is time for him to move on.”
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“You cannot continue to behave like a child as if somebody stole your bread and things like that and then you’re crying over spilt milk?
“It’s natural for him to feel hurt, excluded and I think that as the president acknowledged in a recent birthday tribute to him Nasiru actually helped a lot in installing President Tinubu and if he’s not there it doesn’t mean that he must bring down the roof,” the presidential spokesman added.
Onanuga emphasised that President Tinubu holds no grudges against El-Rufai, attributing the former governor’s recent criticisms to frustration over his exclusion from the Federal Government.
He also dismissed El-Rufai’s attacks on the administration, stating they do not “reflect reality.” He pointed out that while the government inherited significant challenges, “things are getting better.”
