Special adviser on Information and Strategy to President Bola Tinubu, Bayo Onanuga, has admonished former governor of Kaduna State, Nasir El-Rufai to stop acting like a “crying child” and move on from the ministerial snub episode.
President Tinubu sent the list of ministerial nominees, including el-Rufai, to the senate for screening and confirmation in July 2023.
The senate withheld el-Rufai’s confirmation over petitions filed against him on security grounds.
The former FCT minister, speaking in an interview on Monday, said Nigerians should not believe the narrative that the national assembly rejected him as a ministerial nominee.
“The National Assembly had nothing to do with it, the president didn’t want me in his cabinet,” El-Rufai had said.
Reacting to his statement on Tuesday during an interview on Channels TV, Onanuga faulted El-Rufai for his “incessant complaints” about being excluded from Tinubu’s government.
The presidential spokesperson compared the ex-minister’s takes to that of a child “crying over spilt milk.”
“Well, 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, but I think it has been a long time now,” Onanuga said.
“Ministers were appointed in August 2023, and I believe it’s time for him to move on. He cannot continue to behave like a child, as if someone stole his bread… crying over spilt milk, as we say.
“It is natural for him to feel hurt and bad about being excluded. However, as the president acknowledged in his recent tribute to him, El-Rufai actually played a significant role in helping to install President Tinubu.
“Still, if he is not part of the government, that does not mean he must bring down the roof. The president has nothing against him.
“I believe Nasir feels naturally hurt by his exclusion, which is why he is going everywhere campaigning against the president. This shows a man who resents being left out of the moving train and refuses to let go.
“As a brother and former governor, my advice to him is simple: he should forget about it if he was not made a minister.
“He has been in public service since 1999, and I think the hurt started when he was not appointed a minister. That explains why he has been making these statements.
“Even yesterday, in an interview with Arise TV, he claimed that it was the president who blocked his appointment.”
El-Rufai had also hinted at ditching the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).
