Move on, stop sulking over ministerial snub, Onanuga tells El-Rufai

The Special Adviser to President Bola Tinubu on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, has advised former Kaduna State Governor, Nasir El-Rufai, to move on from his ministerial disappointment, urging him to stop acting like a child.

Onanuga, speaking on Channels Television’s Sunrise Daily on Tuesday, said El-Rufai appeared to still be nursing grievances over his failed ministerial nomination, months after President Tinubu’s cabinet was constituted.

“As a person, I pity the former governor of Kaduna State, Mallam Nasir El-Rufai. He feels hurt that he was not made a minister.

“It has been a long time since the cabinet was formed in August 2023. I think it is time for him to move on. He cannot continue to behave like a child, as if someone stole his bread,” the presidential aide stated.

El-Rufai was among Tinubu’s initial ministerial nominees but was dropped after the Senate declined to confirm his appointment, citing security concerns.

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Since then, he has largely stayed away from the administration’s activities until recently, when he raised concerns about the operations within the All Progressives Congress.

Speaking for the first time on the ministerial issue, El-Rufai, in an interview with Arise TV on Monday, revealed that Tinubu, and not the National Assembly, rejected his nomination.

The former Minister of the Federal Capital Territory said the President changed his mind about the appointment despite publicly asking him to remain close after leaving office.

“Since I left office and the President begged me publicly to come and serve in his government, I had my plans and told President Tinubu from day one that when he asked me to support him, I agreed but made it clear I didn’t want anything. Politics in Nigeria is always about ‘What do I get for giving you support?’” he said.

He added, “I’m not in politics for that reason. I’m not in politics to get anything. I have a surname, and I’m a self-made man. I made money before coming into public office. I don’t need anything. After eight years in Kaduna, I was nearly burnt out. I struggled for eight years and wanted to take a break. I had my private plans.

“The President publicly appealed to me to put my plans on hold, and after two months of negotiations, we finally agreed that he would nominate me as a minister, with certain conditions I attached to that.

“I think along the line, either the President changed his mind or something else happened. Please don’t believe the story that the National Assembly rejected me. The National Assembly had nothing to do with this. The President didn’t want me in his cabinet. He changed his mind. Whatever the reason, I don’t care, and I’ve moved on.

“Since I moved on, I have not said a word, granted an interview, or commented on the government, but it is within my right as a founding member of the All Progressives Congress to ask why the party isn’t functioning.”