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On Saturday, September 7, 2024, Ngelale announced his decision to proceed on an indefinite leave of absence in a post shared on his Facebook account.
The seasoned broadcaster said he had informed the Chief of Staff to the President, Femi Gbajabiamila, of his decision in a memo.
He equally stepped down as the Special Presidential Envoy on Climate Action and Chairman of the Presidential Steering Committee on Project Evergreen, which effectively confirmed the end of his stay in Aso Rock.
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He explained that medical matters presently affecting his immediate and nuclear family were the reasons for his resignation.
“While I fully appreciate that the ship of state waits for no man, this agonising decision — entailing a pause of my functions as the Special Adviser to the President on Media & Publicity and Official Spokesperson of the President; Special Presidential Envoy on Climate Action, and Chairman, Presidential Steering Committee on Project Evergreen — was taken after significant consultations with my family over the past several days as a vexatious medical situation has worsened at home.
“I look forward to returning to full-time national service when time, healing, and fate permit. I respectfully ask for some privacy for my family and I during this time,” his statement partly read.
Presidential media aide, Ajuri Ngelale
Pulse Nigeria
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Nigerians react to Ngelale's resignation from Tinubu's govt
Meanwhile, many Nigerians have taken to various social media platforms reacting to the development.
Below are some of the reactions from X and Facebook.
- “I salute the courage of this young man despite the benefits that he has been enjoying and he has decided to leave. Bravo” Hamma S. Idi
- “Kudos to him. He has a conscience. It’s very difficult to defend a clueless government. Let the Lagos boys take over as usual.” - Okpueze Emerueh:
- “Tinubu government must have frustrated Ajuri. He is the best spokesman in this government and he speaks with facts 💯. It is unfortunate he left Baba.” - Shafi’i Hamidu @shafiihamidu
- “Ajuri Ngelale is tired of telling Nigerians lies. It’s not easy defending this government.” - Emma ik Umeh (Tcee) @emmaikumeh
- “Ajuri Ngelale is just 37 year old, but he has accomplished a lot. At first, it’s music to listen to him, but as you listen the more, his voice becomes boring and the lies becomes apparent. This is coming from me (as an APC card carrying member).” - Dr Croc @MgajiInnocent
- “The biggest PR has resigned. He may be tired too for incompetencies. May his former principal be next to resign.” - Muhammad Gaddafi Rabiu
- “Ajuri can now rest well, sleep well, eat well, switch off his phone and even add some weight.” - Shehu Sani @ShehuSani
- “I have a lot of respect for Ajuri, because he has proven to be one of the spokespersons that have regards for the citizens. Very careful with his choice of words when addressing the citizens. I wish him the best in his future endeavours.” - Adamu Ibrahim Aliyu @hrh_aia
- “It’s no surprise to hear that Ajuri Ngelale has resigned. Do you realise how difficult it is to defend someone like Tinubu? You would have to abandon all sense of integrity and logic to do so. You’d end up calling black white and white black. Best of luck to Ajuri Ngelale!” - FEJIRO @realFejiro
- “His conscience no allow him to continue defending obvious failure of a president. He wants to exonerate himself from the mess they call governance in Nigeria. Good of him, he can still regain his image and dignity.” - Mazi Ifeanyi Nweze
- “Maybe he wasn’t lying enough as required and he was asked to step aside for Onanuga to assume full lying responsibilities.” - Queen Bee @QueenBee_
- “Ajuri Ngelale is the first presidential spokesman whose television face and Oyibo accent — not PR or media expertise — earned him the plum job. Tinubu’s family brought him for cosmetic effect to smarten the president’s geriatric outlook and gutteral voice. But soon afterwards, his inflated sense of importance and domineering attitude put him at odds with other powers around the president.” - Jaafar Jaafar @JaafarSJaafar
![Abia State Governor, Alex Otti [Twitter:@alexottiofr]](data:image/svg+xml;charset=utf8,%3Csvg%20xmlns%3D'http%3A%2F%2Fwww.w3.org%2F2000%2Fsvg'%20width%3D'300'%20height%3D'172'%20data-ring-placeholder%3D'1'%3E%3C%2Fsvg%3E "Abia State Governor, Alex Otti [Twitter:@alexottiofr]")