The former Kaduna governor, Nasir el-Rufai, should quit being a “crying child” and get over the incident of the ministerial snub said the special assistant on media and strategy to President Bola Tinubu, Bayo Onanuga.
El-Rufai was on the list of cabinet nominees that Tinubu forwarded to the Senate in July 2023 for verification and screening.
Due to security-related petitions against him, the Senate denied El-Rufai’s confirmation.
The former governor stated in an interview on Monday that Nigerians shouldn’t trust the story that he was turned down for a cabinet position by the national assembly.
El-Rufai said Tinubu did not want him in his cabinet after publicly pleading with him beforehand to suspend his future plans and accept the ministerial appointment.
During a Tuesday interview with Channels Television, Onanuga responded to El-Rufai’s “incessant complaints” on his exclusion from Tinubu’s administration.
According to the presidential spokesperson, El-rufai’s opinions were akin to a toddler “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, Nasir actually played a significant role in helping to install President Tinubu.
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“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 also alluded to leaving the All Progressives Congress (APC), which is currently in power.
