Special Adviser to President Bola Tinubu on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, said the former governor of Kaduna State, Nasir El-Rufai, is angry because he was blocked from getting a ministerial appointment in the current administration.
El-Rufai has been critical of Tinubu’s government in recent times. During an interview on Arise TV, el-Rufai said it was Tinubu, not the National Assembly, that blocked his nomination as a minister after initially asking him to be part of the government.
“The National Assembly had nothing to do with it, the president didn’t want me in his cabinet,” El-Rufai said.
However, on Tuesday, in an interview on Channels TV’s Sunrise Daily, Mr 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.
“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.”
Onanuga emphasized that the president has nothing against El-Rufai, reiterating that the ex-governor was only frustrated for not being part of the Federal Government.
Onanuga further said El-Rufai’s criticism against the Tinubu administration does not reflect the reality on ground, adding that the government inherited numerous problems but things are getting better.
