The Nigerian presidency has fired back at former Kaduna State Governor, Nasir El-Rufai, over his public outcry regarding his failed ministerial nomination, telling him to “stop crying like a baby whose bread was stolen” and move on.

Presidential aide, Bayo Onanuga, the Special Adviser to President Bola Tinubu on Information and Strategy, made the remark on Tuesday while appearing on Channels TV’s Sunrise Daily, which SaharaReporters monitored.

“As a person, I think I will pity the former governor of Kaduna State, Nasir El-Rufai. He feels hurt that he was not made a minister… I think it is time for him to move on,” Onanuga said.

“You cannot continue to behave like a child as if somebody stole your bread and you are crying over spilt milk. It is natural for you to feel hurt. It is natural for you to feel bad for being excluded. As the President acknowledged in the birthday wish to him, Nasir actually helped a lot in installing President Tinubu. If he is not there, it does not mean that he must bring down the roof.”

On Monday night, El-Rufai had granted an explosive interview to Arise News, where he accused President Tinubu — not the National Assembly — of being directly responsible for his ministerial rejection.

“Please don’t believe the story that the National Assembly rejected me. The National Assembly has nothing to do with it. The President did not want me in his cabinet,” El-Rufai said.

He claimed that despite his pivotal role in Tinubu’s election, he was deliberately sidelined, adding that the President had initially begged him publicly to serve in his government.

“After two months of negotiations, we finally agreed that he would nominate me as a minister, and then there were certain conditions I attached. I think, along the line, either the President changed his mind or something else.”

El-Rufai insisted that he had no personal grudges against the Tinubu administration but criticized how the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) was being run, warning that unresolved issues within the party could lead to deeper internal cracks.

The fallout between Tinubu and El-Rufai has been building for months. While Tinubu’s loyalists claim the former Kaduna governor was dropped due to security concerns raised by the National Assembly, El-Rufai’s camp believes he was politically outmanoeuvred after playing a key role in Tinubu’s victory.

His exclusion has also triggered speculations about his next political move, with rumours of a potential alignment with anti-Tinubu forces ahead of the 2027 elections.

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