Special Adviser to President Bola Tinubu on Media and Publicity, Ajuri Ngelale, has said he is not on the same level as Bayo Onanuga, the Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, stating that there is no division among the ranks of the presidential spokespersons.
Ngelale also dismissed notions in some quarters that the two presidential aides at loggerheads, saying that Onanuga is a respected “senior colleague” and that he does not see himself “as on par or level with somebody of the stature”of the former managing director of the News Agency of Nigeria.
Ngelale said this in an interview on Politics on Sunday on Television Continental (TVC).
On May 28, two separate statements were issued by Ngelale and Onanuga about Tinubu’s activities marking his one year in office.
While Onanuga said the President would deliver a speech to a joint sitting of the National Assembly on May 31 to commemorate the anniversary, Ngelale issued a contradictory statement, which said the President would not address the lawmakers.
Addressing the situation, Ngelale expressed sadness that the issue was blown out of proportion, stressing that Onanuga is a senior colleague he holds in high regard.
“This is something I watched on the television and radio coverage of the situation, and it’s totally unfortunate and misguided in the sense that anyone who has been fair-minded and unbiased about the actual wording of each of the statements that came out, what they would recognize is, first and foremost, we made a clear reference to public commentary,” Ngelale said.
“We were in a situation in which on television stations around the country one evening it was being reported that the President will provide a State of the Nation address to a joint sitting of the National Assembly. It was a very clear insinuation that was made on several news broadcasts and the like.
“This was alarming to us because there was no statement from the State House at all. And none of the two statements that have been cited said anything about a State of the Nation address.
“Secondly, I think we have to be clear about the fact that the Speaker of the House of Representatives came out publicly and clarified what the confusion was and around some of the miscommunication that happened.
“Our statement simply dealt with the public commentary around the idea that there was a State of the Nation address. We never said the President was not going to attend any event in the National Assembly; we never said the President would not give extemporaneous remarks at the National Assembly.
“What we said is that there will be no speech delivered before a joint session of the National Assembly on an overview of his administration for May 29th. And the last point is that I’ve been really saddened by some of the commentary attempting to create confusion and division within the office of the President with respect to my humble self and my very respected elder colleague, Mr. Bayo Onanuga.
“I want to be very clear, when I was somewhere in primary school, Mr. Onanuga was risking his life on the streets of Lagos against murderous oppressors, defending the right of Nigerians to be able to vote for their leaders.
“Anybody thinking that they can create an impression that I see myself as on par or level with somebody of the stature of Mr. Bayo Onanuga, that I’m competing with him, that I’m antagonising him in any way, that conversation should stop,” he concluded.
