Mr. Bayo Onanuga, the Special Adviser on Information and Strategy to President Bola Tinubu, has dismissed former Kaduna State governor, Nasir El-Rufai as a hurting politician who is angry at the President for not appointing him a minister.
El-Rufai was an ardent supporter of Tinubu ahead of the 2023 presidential election and touted to become a member of the inner caucus of the Tinubu Presidency shortly after Tinubu was declared winner.
As a show of good faith for his support, El-Rufai was initially nominated as a minister by Tinubu while the president was forming his cabinet but was surprisingly disqualified by the Senate for what was suggested to be security reason.
This may have prompted the ex-Kaduna governor to shade President Tinubu and his government at different times and forums.
But speaking on Channels Television’s Sunrise Daily on Tuesday, Onanuga said that even though El-Rufai worked hard for Tinubu’s emergence as president, it is time for him to move on from the disappointment of not being made a minister.
“I will pity former Kaduna State governor Mallam Nasir El-Rufai, he feels hurt that he was not made a minister, but I think it’s time for him to move on. You cannot continue to behave like a child as if someone stole his bread and things like that and then you are crying over spilt milk,” Onanuga said.
While acknowledging that it is not out of place for El-Rufai to feel aggrieved having worked hard for the election of Tinubu, Onanuga said that the President is not in denial of his efforts.
“It is natural for him to feel bad that he has been excluded. I think the president has acknowledged in a recent tribute to him that Nasir did a lot in installing President Tinubu, and if he is not there it doesn’t mean he will bring down the roof.”
Onanuga said that Tinubu has nothing against El-Rufai but the former Kaduna governor is going about everywhere campaign against the president because he feels hurt.
