The supremacy battle that is allegedly, currently brewing between Dele Alake, the Special Adviser to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu on Special Duties, Media and Publicity and Femi Gbajabiamila, the Chief of Staff to the president, will tear the thin fabric holding the already delicate presidency apart if not quickly contained.
Both men have been in contention since the new government was inaugurated, allegedly, over whose words should be law in the presidency and who should have the presidency’s ears. While they both maintain a close relationship with President Tinubu, the only reason he gave them sensitive positions to man and to function in different capacities, Alake allegedly feels he is superior to Gbajabiamila and in fact, anyone else within the presidency because of his relationship with the President, which dates back to the days of the National Democratic Coalition (NADECO) and the struggle to entrench democracy.
Alake considers himself an ‘old brigade’ who worked closely with Tinubu as commissioner of information when the latter was Governor of Lagos State. He allegedly sees Gbajabiamila not only as a neophyte but also as an outsider.
Even before his official portfolio as a Special Adviser was announced, Alake was already throwing his weight around within the presidency and representing Tinubu in talks with either organised labour or various pressure groups. As soon as his portfolio was announced, he inserted himself into the itinerary of the President each time he went on foreign trips and sat directly behind him at fora, much to the amusement of many who never saw past Special Advisers assert themselves in such a manner.
Alake’s actions, which have already begun to earn him some flak, has allegedly relegated the Chief of Staff to the background rendering him unable to discharge his duties. For avoidance of doubt, some of these duties include but not limited to managing and advising the President; representing him in meetings, emails and phone calls with internal and external stakeholder; managing the pPesident’s calendar and prioritising his time and schedule, controlling the flow of people and information into Aso Rock, etc.
One other very important duty of the Chief of Staff is selecting and supervising senior staff members and their offices, including managing and designing the structure of the staff system. This Alake has allegedly, totally usurped. A clear example is the recent appointment of Ajuri Ngelale, an ex-aide of former President Muhammadu Buhari, as Tinubu’s Special Adviser on Media and Publicity.
Ajuri’s appointment was alleged to have been made possible by Alake, much to the chagrin of many. They wonder why, even if he had to find a job for Ajuri, it had to be such a high-ranking position which should ordinarily have gone to Tunde Rahman, a veteran in the media industry.
A former newspaper editor, Rahman has worked closely with Tinubu when he was a private citizen, as his personal assistant on media and publicity. These set of people are of the opinion that Tunde, who is a more experienced communicator compared to Ajuri should have been elevated to the status of a Special Adviser, which is equivalent to being a minister, from his current position as Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media Matters, rather than hand Ajuri a less experienced communicator, the position. Gbajabiamila however is fighting back and has refused to be a doormat. He is said to have put on his fighting gloves in preparation to easing out all the so called power blocks close to the president and assert his full authority. The machinery for this, he has already activated. On Alake’s part, hopefully, he gets busy with his new ministerial portfolio so that they will both carry out the various duties assigned to them peacefully.
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