THE INSIDER: Why Ajuri Ngelale quit as presidential spokesman amidst Aso Rock civil war

By the time Ajuri Ngelale announced on Saturday that he was stepping aside as presidential spokesman, he 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.

Even George Akume, the 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 approval. 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.

Many had thought he would be dropped as spokesman with the climate change appointment, but he combined the roles for the whole of three months.

The climate change role also angered stakeholders in the sector who saw it as “power grab” and a violation of extant laws.

“Ajuri behaves as if he owns Aso Rock,” a senior insider in the presidential villa had told TheCable on Wednesday.

Three days later, he was gone.

Announcing that he was proceeding on an indefinite leave of absence on Saturday, he said it was for health reasons “in the nuclear family”. TheCable confirmed that there is indeed a medical issue in his family but it was not the primary reason for his decision to “step aside”.

The immediate trigger, TheCable understands, was the writing on the wall that his days were numbered. He no longer had unfettered access to the president.

“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 told TheCable.

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?”

Ngelale, 37, 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,” the insider told TheCable.

Tinubu, who had been attracted to Ngelale because of his well-delivered CNN interview in May 2023, had also been asking his aides why his spokesman was no longer appearing regularly on TV since that was his major selling point. Although Ngelale resumed his TV duties, it was apparent by the day that he was already losing out in Aso Rock politics.

THE POWER PLAY 

There was a beginning to the civil war.

Dele Alake, commissioner of information and strategy in Lagos state from 1999-2007 when Tinubu was governor, had been positioned to be the special adviser on media, strategy and special duties to the president. It all looked like a done deal until Seyi, whom insiders say plays a major role in appointments made by his father, decided to torpedo it.

Working with Gbajabiamila — who was still a strong chief of staff before the appointment of Muri-Okunola — Seyi played up Ngelale’s credentials to checkmate Alake, whose office would have been at the presidential villa if he had been made presidential spokesman. Instead, he was appointed minister of solid minerals and Ngelale was named as spokesman.

But that was just the beginning. Ngelale’s mistakes were constantly highlighted as reasons why he needed supervision. Bayo Onanuga, former MD of the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) and an experienced journalist who graduated from the University of Lagos in 1980, was named special adviser on information and strategy to the president in October 2023 to perform that role.

Many commentators believed Tinubu had too many senior figures in his communications team, amounting to a duplication of roles, but it was also thought that Onanuga’s appointment would unify the team and streamline the flow of communication from the presidency.

It was not to be.

Insiders told TheCable that Ngelale refused to work with Onanuga and continued to relate directly with the president, apparently because he had the backing of Gbajabiamila and Seyi Tinubu.

The irony, though, is that Ngelale initially refused to accept his appointment as presidential spokesman, insisting he wanted to pursue a different path outside of government having been part of the communications team of President Muhammadu Buhari for four years.

He was persuaded by the president’s son to take the job, unknown to him that he was just a pawn on the chessboard.

The game would ultimately consume him as his backers backed out and he found himself in the middle of nowhere. He was left with no option than to fall on his own sword, having already fallen out with his guardian angels.