Details have emerged regarding why Ajuri Ngelale, the spokesperson of President Bola Tinubu, stepped down from his position on Saturday.
While Mr. Ngelale said he was stepping aside to deal with medical matters affecting his family, he actually left the position after he became suspicious that he could be humiliated out of office.
The Premium Times reports that the presidency has been shopping for an experienced and competent media professional to replace Ngelale in the past weeks. Administration insiders say the journalist failed to demonstrate sufficient capacity to effectively deliver on the job.
Ngelale held two key positions simultaneously – special adviser to the president on media and publicity and special presidential envoy on climate action/ chairman, Presidential Steering Committee on Project Evergreen.
However, sources said, the presidency recently directed Ngelale to focus on his climate action role while another individual is appointed to serve as media adviser and spokesperson to the president.
But when Ngelale expressed a preference to retain the media adviser position while stepping down from the Climate change role, the presidency declined.
Those familiar with the matter said he was told he could remain on the president’s media team but that he would still have to be bossed by a new appointee to the position.
This exchange and subsequent events that happened in the presidential villa rattled Ngelale. For weeks, he was blocked from meeting Tinubu and was also not included in the president’s delegation to China, our sources said.
President Tinubu, who came to power last year, appointed Ngelale as his spokesperson in August 2023, urging him to bring his wealth of experience to the assignment.
Government sources said Ngelale was appointed on the recommendation of Seyi Tinubu, the president’s son.
But not long after the appointment, sources said it became clear to the president, his son and some members of his cabinet that Mr. Ngelale lacked the requisite “experience, contacts and networks” needed for the job.
Before becoming Tinubu’s media adviser, Ngelale was one of the spokespersons for the presidential campaign council of the All Progressives Congress ahead of the 2023 general elections.
He started his journalism career in 2011 as a broadcaster with the Africa Independent Television and later with Channels TV. His total media experience is below eight years.
Ngelale previously served as senior special assistant on public affairs in the office of former Vice President Yemi Osinbajo.
Sources in the presidency said when Ngelale saw that he could no longer access the president, he decided to withdraw from the job.
“He was basically isolated even by those who brought him to take the position,” one of our sources said.
President Tinubu and his team expected better performance from Ngelale, presidency insiders told Premium Times.
“Except for his occasional TV appearances, Mr. Ngelale was unreachable even to journalists,” an official said. “He hardly responds to messages or return calls.”
Another official said the spokesperson had little contact with local and international media and commanded little respect from media owners, editors, and leading journalists in Nigeria.
“It is a misnomer and a miscalculation for the President to have appointed such a junior journalist to such a senior position. It is no surprise that he could not deliver as expected,” the official said.
Last year, the Nigerian Institute of Public Relations (NIPR) queried Ngelale’s qualifications and competence as the president’s spokesperson.
The NIPR said Mr. Ngelale was not ‘fit’ to hold that “exalted position” because he lacked the basic “knowledge and requisite training on public relations.”
In a statement on Saturday night, President Tinubu accepted Ngelale’s exit plan and “sympathises with the circumstances that have led to this seemingly difficult decision.” Tinubu extended his heartfelt prayers and best wishes to Mr. Ngelale and his family during this challenging moment.
Ngelale said his decision to depart was “agonising” even though it was taken after “significant consultations” with family over the past several days.
About the ex-presidential spokesperson
Ngelale was born in Platteville, Wisconsin, United States, on November 13, 1986. He went to school in America until 2011 when he returned to Nigeria for the mandatory National Youth Service Corps (NYSC).
He started journalism career as a youth corps member at Africa Independent Television (AIT). After completing his national service, he was retained by AIT as an investigative reporter and later served as a news editor, producer and presenter.
At AIT, he produced two critically acclaimed public affairs documentary series State of the Nation (2012) and Diary from the Delta (2016). He left AIT in 2016 and joined Channels Television where he served as a co-anchor of popular breakfast programme, Sunrise Daily.
In partnership with the United States Government’s Mandela Washington Fellowship, Ngelale also produced and presented Africa’s Future Leaders which documented young African leaders uplifting disadvantaged population through their individual efforts.
In 2019, he resigned from Channels TV to become lead media content producer for the All Progressives Congress (APC) Next Level Presidential Campaign for the reelection of President Muhammadu Buhari under Buhari/Osinbajo presidential Campaign organization. Following their victory at the poll in 2019, President Buhari appointed Ngelale as his Senior Special Adviser on Public Affairs but he was seconded to the office of ex-Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo.
In October 2022, Ngelale was appointed co-principal spokesperson of Tinubu-Shettima Presidential campaign Organization. On 31 July 2023, president Bola Tinubu appointed Ngelale his official spokesperson.
On 19 May 2024, Tinubu appointed him as the first Special Presidential Envoy on Climate Action for Nigeria. He was also appointed as the Chairman of the Presidential Steering Committee on Project Evergreen, Nigeria’s first green industrial zone and as Secretary of the Presidential Committee on Climate Action and Green Economic Solutions.
Sources: Premium Times, Daily Post
