Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Ajuri Ngelale, shocked Nigerians on Friday, when he revealed that he was proceeding on an indefinite leave, to enable him to attend to the medical issues affecting his immediate nuclear family.
The presidential spokesman said he had on Friday, submitted a memo to the Chief of Staff to the President, Femi Gbajabiamila, informing him of his decision to also step down as Special Presidential Envoy on Climate Action, and Chairman of the Presidential Steering Committee on Project Evergreen.
Ngelale, however, added that he was looking forward to returning to full-time national service “when time, healing, and fate permit.”
According to TheCable, the journalist had fallen out with many key presidency officials — Femi Gbajabiamila, the chief of staff; Hakeem Muri-Okunola, principal secretary; and Victor Adeleke, chief of state protocol. Not forgetting President Bola Tinubu’s son, Seyi, “who — together with Gbajabiamila — engineered Ngelale’s appointment as special adviser on media and publicity in July 2023”.
According to the publication, George Akume, Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), reportedly complained to the president about how Ngelale created positions and announced to the public without informing his office, which manages political appointments.
In May 2024, Ngelale was named special presidential envoy on climate action, chairman of the presidential steering committee on Project Evergreen, Nigeria’s first green industrial zone, and secretary of the presidential committee on climate action and green economic solutions, chaired by Tinubu.
Leveraging on his closeness to the president and his son, Ngelale had reportedly proposed the creation of these three positions and received Tinubu’s nod to go ahead. He then went ahead to issue a press statement announcing the appointment without recourse to the SGF, a development that enlarged the camp of his “enemies”. An enraged Akume drew the president’s attention to it.
“Ajuri behaves as if he owns Aso Rock,” the newspaper claimed a senior insider in the presidential villa informed it on Wednesday.
It was further stated that though there is a medical concern in his family, it was not the major reason for his resignation.
“Ajuri was asked to pick between being presidential spokesman and climate change ambassador. He said he should be allowed to think over it. He came back to pick presidential spokesman but he was told that he would need supervision as it was obvious he needed help,” another insider reportedly told the newspaper.
He was subsequently denied express access to the president.
The “help” he needed had been constantly highlighted to the president, some of which included mistakes in his press statements. He wrongly announced in September 2023 that Tinubu was the first African president to ring the closing bell at Nasdaq. He also prematurely announced the decision of the government of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to lift the visa ban on Nigeria. The government was particularly embarrassed by the media backlash on each occasion.
“Some of his press statements were simply childish,” the insider said, pointing to when Ngelale posted on social media that he had broken the State House record for most statements issued in a single day. That was on July 13, 2024. “I mean, what was that?” an insider was quoted again.
The 37-year-old was also accused of not being a leader as he hardly gave any directions to his team members or held meetings with them.
“He was running a one-man show and played members of the team against each other, dealing only with the people he brought into the team,” another insider was reportedly quoted as saying.
