Ajuri Ngelale has resigned as Special Adviser to President Bola Tinubu on Media and Publicity, with immediate effect.
This was revealed in a statement issued by the Presidency on Saturday, stating that the Spokesperson had submitted a memo to the Chief of Staff to the President, Femi Gbajabiamila, informing him of his plan to proceed on indefinite leave.
According to Ngelale, he stepped down as the Special Presidential Envoy on Climate Action and Chairman of the Presidential Steering Committee on Project Evergreen.
He clarified that he stepped down from his role to deal with medical matters presently affecting his nuclear family.
The statement read, “On Friday, I submitted a memo to the Chief of Staff to the President informing my office that I am proceeding on an indefinite leave of absence to frontally deal with medical matters presently affecting my immediate nuclear family.
“While I fully appreciate that the ship of state waits for no man, this agonizing 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 me during this time.”
Ajuri Ngelale was born on November 13, 1986, in Platteville, Wisconsin, United States. His parents are Precious Ngelale, a Nigerian of Eleme origin from Rivers State, and Diane Ngelale, a German-American.
He is a Nigerian broadcast journalist who has served as a senior reporter and presenter at Africa Independent Television and Channels Television.
Ngelale served as the Senior Special Adviser on Public Affairs to President Muhammadu Buhari between 2019 and 2023 and was a co-principal spokesperson of the Bola Tinubu Presidential Campaign Council for the 2023 presidential election.
The media morgul was appointed as the Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity on August, 1 2023.
The Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation announced that the appointment of Ajuri Ngelale took effect on July 31, 2023, and will last until the end of the current administration, unless extended by the President.
Subsequently, on May 19, 2024, President Tinubu appointed Ngelale to several key roles, including Special Presidential Envoy on Climate Action, Chairman of the Presidential Steering Committee on Project Evergreen, Secretary of the Presidential Committee on Climate Action and Green Economic Solutions.
