Bayo Onanuga, Special Adviser on Information and Strategy to President Bola Tinubu, says Former Kaduna State governor, Nasir El-Rufai, is disappointed for being left out during the President’s ministerial appointment.

In August 2023, the Senate withheld the confirmation of El-Rufai as a ministerial nominee, citing security reports from the State Security Service for the action.

With the fallout of the ministerial appointment, El-Rufai has in recent times become critical of the Tinubu administration and the All Progressives Congress.

Speaking during an interview on Arise TV, El-Rufai claimed that it was not the Senate that rejected him as a Minister but President Tinubu himself.

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“After serving for eight years as governor of Kaduna state, I had my plans. The President publicly appealed to me put my plans on hold and through two months of negotiations, we finally agreed that he would nominate me as minister and there were certain conditions I attached to that. I think along the line, either the president changed his mind or something else.

“I think along the line, either the President changed his mind or something else. Please don’t believe the story that the National Assembly rejected me. The National Assembly had nothing to do with this, the President didn’t want me in his cabinet, he changed his mind. Whatever it is, I don’t care and I’ve moved on.

“Since I’ve moved on, I’ve not said a word, I’ve not granted an interview, I’ve not commented on the government but it is within my right as a founding member of the All Progressives Congress to ask why the party isn’t functioning,” he said.

But speaking on Channels Television on Tuesday, Onanuga said that even though the former FCT minister worked hard for Tinubu’s emergence as president, it is time for him to move on from the disappointment of not being made a minister.

He said: “I will pity former Kaduna State governor Mallam Nasir El-Rufai, he feels hurt that he was not made a minister.

“It has been a long time since the cabinet was formed in August 2023. I think it is 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.”

While acknowledging that it is not out of place for El-Rufai to feel aggrieved having worked hard for the election of Tinubu, Onanuga said that the President is not in denial of his efforts.

“It is natural for him to feel bad that he has been excluded. I think the president has acknowledged in a recent tribute to him that Nasir did a lot in installing President Tinubu, and if he is not there it doesn’t mean he will bring down the roof,” he said.