Ajuri Ngelale: Many battles of youngest Presidential Spokesman in Nigeria’s democratic history

A crowd of at least 10 aides trickled into the office of President Bola Tinubu to congratulate him over his victory at the Supreme Court, on October 26, 2023. As they danced and cheered, the president who was seated calmly watched in silence. When it was time to speak, Nigeria’s number one citizen said, “Ajuri, […]

A crowd of at least 10 aides trickled into the office of President Bola Tinubu to congratulate him over his victory at the Supreme Court, on October 26, 2023. As they danced and cheered, the president who was seated calmly watched in silence. When it was time to speak, Nigeria’s number one citizen said, “Ajuri, your job is secure.”

The presidential spokesperson bowed, smiled sheepishly as he dropped a document in front of his principal. Tinubu perused it briefly, signed, then went on to acknowledge the remarks of the crowd in front of him.

But on Saturday, Chief Ajuri Ngelale announced that he was quitting the job alongside the ones he secured after July 31, 2023, when he was named Special Adviser to the President on Media & Publicity. Tinubu had also appointed Ngelale Special Presidential Envoy on Climate Action, and Chairman, Presidential Steering Committee on Project Evergreen.

Femi Adesina, Ngelale’s predecessor as official spokesperson of the President, spent eight full years in office. Reuben Abati, who occupied that position before Adesina spent four years in office, hence some persons were surprised over why Ngelale stepped aside in a little over a year.

In his announcement, Ngelale predicated his indefinite leave of absence on “medical matters presently affecting my immediate, nuclear family”.

Given what Abati wrote shortly after the ocean of change swept Jonathan out of power, one could easily conclude that Ngelale was in the thick of his own battle.

In a piece entitled, ‘The Spiritual Side of Aso Rock,’ Abati narrated some mysterious happenings in the seat of power.

“I have heard people insist that there is some form of witchcraft at work in the country’s seat of government. I am ordinarily not a superstitious person, but working in the Villa, I eventually became convinced that there must be something supernatural about power and closeness to it. I’ll start with a personal testimony.”

“I was given an apartment to live in inside the Villa. It was furnished and equipped. But when my son, Michael arrived, one of my brothers came with a pastor who was supposed to stay in the apartment. But the man refused claiming that the Villa was full of evil spirits and that there would soon be a fire accident in the apartment. He complained about too much human sacrifice around the Villa and advised that my family must never sleep overnight inside the Villa.

“I thought the man was talking nonsense and he wanted the luxury of a hotel accommodation. But he turned out to be right. The day I hosted family friends in that apartment and they slept overnight, there was indeed a fire accident. The guests escaped and they were so thankful.

“Not long after, the President’s physician living two compounds away had a fire accident in his home. He and his children could have died. He escaped with bruises. Around the Villa while I was there, someone always died or their relations died.

“I can confirm that every principal officer suffered one tragedy or the other; it was as if you needed to sacrifice something to remain on duty inside that environment. Even some of the women became merchants of dildo because they had suffered a special kind of death in their homes (I am sorry to reveal this) and many of the men complained about something that had died below their waists too. The ones who did not have such misfortune had one ailment or the other that they had to nurse. From cancer to brain and prostate surgery and whatever, the Villa was a hospital full of agonizing patients.”

Abati’s narrative makes it easy to assume that a similar fate has befallen Ngelale. However, this piece focuses on some of the controversies that dogged Ngelale at Nigeria’s seat of power.

UAE VISA BAN

In October 2022, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) imposed a visa ban on Nigerians after a diplomatic row. The ban had a huge effect on Nigerians who frequent UAE on business and holiday trips.

Months after Tinubu assumed office, he embarked on a trip to the UAE for bilateral discussions with President Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan.

After the meeting, Ngelale, who was in Tinubu’s delegation, issued a statement saying UAE had lifted the visa ban and resumption of flights between both countries would commence immediately.

“Etihad Airlines and Emirates Airlines are to immediately resume flight schedules into and out of Nigeria without any further delay… As negotiated between the two heads of state, this immediate restoration of flight activity, through these two airlines and between the two countries, does not involve any immediate payment by the Nigerian government,” he had said in his statement.

The UAE subsequently issued a statement on the meeting but made no mention of lifting the ban, subjecting the Nigerian government to ridicule.

FIRST AFRICAN LEADER TO RING BELL AT NASDQ?

Another controversy of Ngelale had to do with an erroneous claim in a State House press release. In a statement he issued on September 21, 2023, Ngelale said Tinubu was the first African leader to ring the closing bell at the National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotations (NASDAQ) in the US. visit.

“In honour of President Bola Tinubu’s determined global push to aggressively attract foreign direct investment into Nigeria, the world’s second largest stock exchange, the National Association of Securities Dealers Automatic Quotation System (NASDAQ), on Wednesday in the world’s financial capital, invited President Tinubu to ring the closing bell, making him the first African President to ever receive the honour,” he erroneously claimed.

The backlash which trailed this was alarming, as Nigerians, particularly on social media, factchecked the Presidency, in what could go as the first embarrassment of that sort.

Amid the barrage of criticisms, the Presidency acknowledged the mistake, admitting that previous African leaders, including Jakaya Mrisho Kikwete of Tanzania, had rung the NASDAQ bell before Tinubu.

Weighing in on the gaffe, the Nigerian Institute of Public Relations (NIPR) queried the qualification and competence of Ngelale to speak for President Tinubu.

The NIPR said Ngelale was ordinarily not ‘fit’ to hold the exalted position because he lacked the basic knowledge and requisite training on public relations.

Dr. Ike Neliaku, NIPR President, said while Ngelale’s journalism pedigree, antecedents and credentials were not in doubt, he was legally not qualified for the job of Presidential spokesperson.

LOCKING HORNS WITH ONANUGA

On the eve of Tinubu’s first year in office, his spokesmen sparked confusion through a statement and counter statement on a particular event.

Special Adviser on Information and Strategy to the President, Bayo Onanuga, had announced that Tinubu would address a joint session of the National Assembly as part of the 25th anniversary of Nigeria’s democratic journey.

The National Assembly Clerk, Sani Magaji, also confirmed the report. In a swift reaction, Ngelale refuted this, describing the information as “false and unauthorized”.

“In view of public commentary concerning the President delivering a speech before a Joint Sitting of the National Assembly tomorrow, May 29, 2024, it is important to state that this information is false and unauthorized as the Office of the President was not involved in the planning of the event,” he had said in a statement.

Few days later, Ngelale granted an interview where he addressed the seeming rift with his “elder colleague”.

“I have been really saddened by some of the commentary attempting to create confusion and division within the office of the president, in respect to my humble self and a very respected elder colleague, Bayo Onanuga. I want to be very clear that when I was somewhere in primary school, Onanuga was risking his life on the streets of Lagos against murderous oppressors.

“He was defending the rights of Nigerians to be able to vote for their leaders. Anybody trying to create the impression that I see myself as on par or level with somebody of the stature of Onanuga should stop the conversation. [Onanuga is] somebody I revere a lot. He is somebody that I respect to the utmost.”

NOT A JOURNALIST’S DELIGHT

Although he did media rounds and appeared on a few television programmes, Ngelale was not many journalists’ delight in terms of giving reactions whether through messages or calls. Many have complained that silence was his trademark in this regard.

Onanuga, Tope Ajayi, Tunde Rahman, at one time or the other gave official reactions, but Ngelale was obviously missing in that regard. Some key statements were also issued late, at times when newspapers had gone to bed.

However, Ngelale held his office well as he signed off important statements. Unlike the Buhari days when Garba Shehu and Adesina took turns to issue key statements, Ngelale took full control. He also claimed to have made record of the presidential spokesperson who issued the most statement in a single day.

“As @ last count, the SA on Media released 14 statements today, with 11 made up of different appointments by the President. We are done for today. We have broken the State House record for statements issued in a single day,” he posted on Social Media.

However, what Ngelale had working for him in terms of issuing statements, he lacked in some other critical aspects. The job of a presidential spokesman is certainly beyond announcing political appointments. Ngelale hardly commented on public policies. He didn’t use widely available media channels to articulate the plans of this government, hence there was a huge communication gap. In the 13 months he held sway, it was difficult to find any analysis of government policies written by him in any newspaper. His predecessor not only had such vital contents published at home, but equally abroad. This strategic concept was conspicuously missing under his watch.

THE FORCES WITHIN

Neglale was one of those below 40 who worked under Tinubu. Given how our society is structured, it is ordinarily difficult for a young person to call the shot in a key office. As a media owner, Tinubu has access to the big names in the media cycle. Ordinarily, one would think a known name would have been given that position but the lot fell on Ngelale’s lap.

However, insiders said he was on collision course with many of his colleagues while the job lasted. Aside from the first year anniversary eve public spat, there were other tense moments with Onanuga. Although he started working in the Nigerian setting in 2011, Ngelale’s American background stuck with him, according to an insider. Perhaps he was being professional, but many passed it off as arrogance indirectly diminishing his worth.
Ngelale reportedly spent the last days in office moving from one nation to the other in his capacity as Special Presidential Envoy on Climate Action. Probably to show he was working, Ngelale shared pictures and comments about his activities but some persons used that as a weapon against him, making it seem that he was not available to be the voice of the government.

A source said Ngelale had moved to reduce the number of persons travelling to foreign summits such as Climate Change Conference. Last year, Nigeria had one of the highest delegations to Dubai for CoP 28. This had sparked negative reactions from Nigerians, who accused the government of waste in a time of economic hardship.
Ngelale’s move to cut down on the number of those attending such conferences was heavily resisted by those who submitted different petitions on his perceived weaknesses, especially on his frequent global trips.

Aside from this, some presidential sources had said he would not last on the job as there were plans to bring in a more experienced person. The message sent to the former Presidential spokesperson to react to this piece was not replied. This time around Ngelale can be excused as he said in his last statement that he needed privacy and as Shehu Sani, a former senator and social critic said, “Ajuri can now rest well, switch off his cell phone and regain some weight.”

WHO IS AJURI NGELALE?

Ngelale was born in Platteville, Wisconsin, United States, on November 13, 1986. He schooled 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.