By Our Correspondent
Fresh facts have emerged how Ajuri Ngelale, President Tinubu’s special adviser on media and publicity lost his job to intriques and power play and not as a result of a “vexatious medical situation” in his family, as he claimed.
Sources indicate that Ngelale was, in fact, dismissed by the presidency and was only allowed to publicly announce his resignation after repeatedly requesting a more graceful exit.
Ngelale, who also served as the special presidential envoy on climate action, surprised Nigerians on Saturday morning with his sudden departure, attributing it to “medical matters presently affecting my immediate, nuclear family.”
“On Friday, I submitted a memo to the Chief of Staff to the President informing my office that I am proceeding on an indefinite leave of absence to frontally deal with medical matters presently affecting my immediate, nuclear family,” Ngelale wrote.
“While I fully appreciate that the ship of state waits for no man, this agonising decision — entailing a pause of my functions as the Special Adviser to the President on Media & Publicity and Official Spokesperson of the President; Special Presidential Envoy on Climate Action, and Chairman, Presidential Steering Committee on Project Evergreen — was taken after significant consultations with my family over the past several days as a vexatious medical situation has worsened at home.”
He said he looked “forward to returning to full-time national service when time, healing, and fate permit”, and respectfully asked “for some privacy for my family and I [sic] during this time”.
Several high-level sources within and close to the presidency informed FIJ on Saturday that Ngelale’s departure was not due to a family health emergency, but rather the result of a power struggle with Bayo Onanuga, the Special Adviser on Information and Strategy.
FIJ gathered that after Bola Tinubu’s election as Nigeria’s president in 2023, tensions emerged between Ngelale and Onanuga.
Ngelale, having served in government since 2019 as President Muhammadu Buhari’s Senior Special Adviser on Public Affairs, believed he outranked Onanuga, who joined the government after him.
Ngelale, 38, began his career with Africa Independent Television (AIT) in the 2000s, while Onanuga, 67, started his career in the 1980s and later became Managing Director of the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN).
A key issue was that while Ngelale held the position of Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Onanuga was the Special Adviser on Information and Strategy, leading to confusion among civil servants.
This situation differed from the Buhari administration, where the roles of Femi Adesina as Special Adviser on Media and Publicity and Garba Shehu as Senior Special Assistant on Media were clearly defined, with Adesina in a higher position.
However, both Ngelale and Onanuga held special adviser titles, and their portfolios overlapped. Nevertheless, the villa’s civil service structure was designed to report to Ngelale as the SA Media, adding to the complexity of the power dynamics.
“Ngelale considered himself untouchable because he had the backing of the president’s son Seyi and Femi Gbajabiamila, the president’s chief of staff,” one source who asked not to be named for fear of retribution told FIJ.
“He was fired; I became aware of this on Tuesday, but I won’t rule out the possibility that it happened earlier. When he got the letter, he started to plead to be allowed to resign as a soft landing. He was eventually given a soft landing, which is understandable. News of his sacking in public would have thoroughly embarrassed not just Ngelale but the presidency too.”
Although this source expressed regret that the situation eventually escalated, they acknowledged that there was no alternative, given Ngelale’s refusal to address his prolonged feud with Onanuga when opportunities for discussion arose.
“The Ngelale-Onanuga feud was no secret in the villa, so several top appointees and cabinet members attempted to intervene at separate times; and while Onanuga was open to peace talks, Ngelale wasn’t,” the source continued.
“For example, Mohammed Idris Malagi, the minister of information and national orientation, called for talks four times. Onanuga was willing to attend but Ngelale snubbed them all, always claiming he was busy.”
Civil servants, who requested anonymity, along with a source familiar with the inner workings of the presidency, revealed to FIJ that despite his formal appointment in October 2023, Onanuga “was essentially a squatter at the presidency and didn’t have an office of his own until just a few months ago.”
“When Onanuga was appointed, there was no office available for him. He had to share space in Tunde Rahman’s office,” one source disclosed. “It wasn’t until recently that he was finally assigned an office, which had previously belonged to either Wale Edun or Zacheus Adedeji when they were still serving as advisers.”
Rahman, the senior special assistant to the president on media and publicity, had been appointed in July 2023, three months before Onanuga. Meanwhile, Zacheus Adedeji had been appointed special adviser on revenue, and Wale Edun as special adviser on monetary policy in June 2023.
Since then, Adedeji has taken on the role of executive chairman of the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), while Edun has become the minister of finance and coordinating minister of the economy. Notably, all three received their appointments well before Onanuga.
These individuals had longstanding relationships with Tinubu, unlike Ngelale. So, how did Ngelale gain so much influence, securing an earlier appointment and preventing Onanuga from having his own office, while these other key figures couldn’t secure one for him?
According to earlier reports, Ngelale had the support of Seyi Tinubu and Femi Gbajabiamila. However, a third source suggested it went even deeper, saying: “It was all about how he got the job.”
“During the 2023 presidential electioneering, Jumoke Oduwole, the special adviser on Presidential Enabling Business Environment Council (PEBEC), introduced Ngelale to Gbajabiamila,” said the source.
“When Ngelale got there, he met Seyi. He told Seyi he would facilitate a CNN interview duirng which Tinubu’s presidential ambition would be discussed. Seyi thought it was impossible, but Ngelale did it. He secured the interview on CNN.
He then told Seyi the time and date it would air. Seyi promised Ngelale that Tinubu would phone him if he pulled it off. Immediately after the interview was aired, Tinubu called Ngelale.
“When Tinubu won the election, Ngelale was abroad. People told him to return home but he said no; he insisted he would get his own appointment once he arrived in the country. And that was exactly what happened: Ngelale’s appointment by Tinubu was announced days after his return to Nigeria.
“Conversely, Gbajabiamila delayed the announcement of Onanuga’s appointment for at least two months. It required Chief Bisi Akande, who originally made the case for Onanuga’s appointment, to return to Tinubu for follow-up conversations. That was when Tinubu ordered that Onanuga’s appointment should be made, and that was how Onanuga came to the villa.”
FIJ has learned that villa staff and civil servants involved in the president’s communication strategy observed tension between Ngelale and Onanuga. They felt that if they worked closely with one, the other would view them as adversarial.
“This caused a significant disruption in promoting the president’s progressive policies,” a source revealed.
The source further explained, “Ngelale gave explicit instructions to civil servants that no statement from Onanuga could be released without his personal approval. If you talk to insiders, many would say Onanuga was more inclined toward maintaining peace, but Ngelale’s directive angered him.”
According to FIJ’s sources, Ngelale’s standing with President Tinubu began to decline once it became clear that his strained relationship not only with Onanuga but also with the media was negatively impacting the president’s publicity efforts.
“He didn’t foster good relations with journalists. Ask the reporters, state house correspondents, and editors,” the source added. “Many consider him disrespectful and arrogant. You’d be hard-pressed to find any prominent editor in Nigeria who holds Ngelale in high regard.”
FIJ reached out to Ngelale via text and WhatsApp for comments, but he did not respond. Cellular and WhatsApp calls to his number also went unanswered. The same efforts to contact Onanuga yielded no response.
Additional report by FIJ
