Ngelale counters Onanuga, says Tinubu not addressing NASS

President Bola Tinubu’s special adviser on media Ajuri Ngelale has said that the Nigerian leader is not scheduled to address a joint session of the National Assembly on May 29.

Ngelale’s statement on Tuesday contradicted an earlier one issued by Tinubu’s special adviser on information and strategy Bayo Onanuga.

“In view of public commentary concerning the President delivering a speech before a Joint Sitting of the National Assembly tomorrow, May 29, 2024, it is important to state that this information is false and unauthorized as the Office of the President was not involved in the planning of the event,” Ngelale said in an emailed statement to The Guardian.

Tinubu clocks one year in office on May 29. Onanuga said in an earlier statement that the president would spend part of the day detailing his achievements in office to the lawmakers.

“President Tinubu’s speech will dwell on the achievements of his administration and Nigeria’s democracy since the military ceded power in 1999,” Onanuga said in the statement published on his X account on Tuesday afternoon.

Per Onanuga, Tinubu’s chief of staff Femi Gbajabiamila and Nigeria’s last military ruler retired General Abdulsalami Abubakar, and former senate president David Mark “are all lined up to address the parliament”.

Ngelale, however, said Tinubu would continue the “inauguration of strategic projects across the country” to mark his first year in office.

The Nigerian leader was in Lagos at the weekend to officially flag-off the construction of the 700-kilometre Lagos-Calabar highway.

He also inaugurated the Papa-Oworonsoki Expressway reconstructed under the Muhamamdu Buhari administration.

On Tuesday, he inaugurated the Southern Parkway project, which serves as a critical artery connecting major areas in Abuja, Nigeria’s capital city.