BAYO Onanuga, an aide to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, has advised former Kaduna State Governor, Nasir El-Rufai, to move past his failed ministerial nomination, urging him to stop acting like a child.
El-Rufai was initially nominated as a minister by Tinubu while the president was forming his cabinet but was eventually screened out by the Senate.
With the fallout of the ministerial appointment, El-Rufai has in recent times become critical of the Tinubu administration and the All Progressives Congress.
In a recent interview, El-Rufai claimed that it was not the Senate that rejected him as a Minister but President Tinubu himself.
But speaking on Channels Television’s Sunrise Daily on Tuesday monitored by News Point Nigeria, Onanuga said that even though El-Rufai 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.
“I will pity former Kaduna State governor Mallam Nasir El-Rufai, he feels hurt that he was not made a minister, but I think it’s time for him to move on,” Onanuga said.
“You cannot continue to behave like a child as if someone stole his bread and things like that and then you are crying over spilt milk.”
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.”
The presidential adviser said that Tinubu has nothing against El-Rufai but the former Kaduna governor is going about everywhere campaign against the president because he feels hurt.
Onanuga urged El-Rufai to let go because he has been in public service since 1999, saying that “it’s time for him to move on.
