The Special Adviser to President Bola Tinubu on Media and Publicity, Ajuri Ngelale, has stepped down from his role with immediate effect.

In a statement issued by the Presidency on Saturday, Ngelale said he had submitted a memo to the Chief of Staff to the President, Femi Gbajabiamila, informing him of his plan to proceed on indefinite leave.

Ngelale added that he has also stepped down as the Special Presidential Envoy on Climate Action and Chairman of the Presidential Steering Committee on Project Evergreen.

According to Ngelale, he stepped down from his roles to deal with medical matters presently affecting his immediate and 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.”

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has asked the federal government to “immediately” reverse the latest hike in the petrol pump price.

On Tuesday, TheCable observed that the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited had increased the price of petrol across its retail outlets.

The product’s price has also increased in other petrol stations across the country, ranging from N855 per litre to over N1,000.

In a statement issued on Wednesday, Debo Ologunagba, the PDP spokesperson, described the development as a “punishing increase” and a “brutal assault on the sensibility and wellbeing of Nigerians”.

“The thoughtless increase in fuel price, especially at this time, is a huge recipe for crisis, as Nigerians cannot bear its worsening effect on the suffocating economic hardship which they currently face under the President Bola Ahmed Tinubu-led APC administration,” the statement reads.

Ologunagba said the “persistent increase” in petrol price “without due regard to the wellbeing of the people is akin to pushing Nigerians to the wall and daring them to do their worse”.

“The APC administration has consistently shown itself to be anti-people, unconcerned, and deaf to the agonies of millions of Nigerians who can no longer afford their daily meals, medications, and basic support for families due to the catastrophic high cost of living occasioned by the insensitive and reckless policies of the Tinubu administration,” he said.

The PDP spokesperson claimed that under the Tinubu administration, 150 million Nigerians have sunk below the poverty line.

He added that businesses are collapsing daily with an over 34 percent inflation rate, noting that there is an over 40 percent unemployment rate.

“There is practically no hope in sight under the current APC government policies as major multinational companies continue to exit our country in droves in the face of ill-conceived and ill-implemented macro-economic policies,” he said.

“With the hopeless state of affairs of our nation today, our Party wonders what President Tinubu, during his numerous trips abroad, says to his foreign counterparts in nations where leaders prioritize the welfare of their people.

“Nigerians will recall that the PDP had on several occasions offered constructive advice and suggestions on the management of the economy, which the APC government, in its arrogance in failure ignored.

“The PDP calls on President Tinubu to save the country from further socio-economic dislocation by immediately reversing the latest provocative increase in fuel price and revisit all life-discounting and suffocating policies of the APC government.”

He said with “deft, transparent, and innovative management of resources, economic potential, comparative advantage, and national refining capacity, petrol should not sell more than N250 per litre in the country”.

Peter Obi, presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP) in 2023, has appointed Yunusa Tanko as the interim national coordinator of the Obidient Movement Worldwide.

Obi announced the appointment during an X spaces engagement on Tuesday.

He stated that Tanko’s selection followed a consensus to allocate the position to the north.

He also highlighted Tanko’s track record and leadership skills as key factors in his selection.

“Last week, I held an X space to announce the start of a series of engagements that will help establish this structure,” he said.

“To drive this process, I set up a team to manage these conversations. This team was tasked with holding a series of consultations and engagements.

“Moving forward, it is crucial to have leadership in place to support this building process. After extensive consultations within the movement and reviewing feedback from Obidients through the ideas submitted, there is a consensus that the position of National Coordinator should go to the North.

“From the nominations submitted by key stakeholders in the movement and shared with the engagement team, Dr Tanko Yunusa emerged as the most nominated candidate for this role.

“I want to clarify that all positions filled at this stage are on an interim basis until our structure is fully developed. Remember, we have over one million leadership positions to fill as we work to build a Nigeria that works for everyone.

“Please be thoughtful in your nominations to help us onboard people with the competence, character, and capacity to lead.”

Tanko previously served as the media director and spokesman for the now-defunct Labour Party presidential campaign organisation.

He was the chair of the Inter-Party Advisory Council (IPAC) in 2015 before joining the National Conscience Party, where he became the presidential candidate in 2019.