The Presidency has issued an apology for inaccuracies in the recently released list of appointments intended to refute claims regarding President Bola Tinubu’s alleged biased selections.
There has been considerable discussion surrounding the President’s appointments as opposition figures have accused him of favoring individuals from his ethnic group over others in Nigeria.
In a recent interview with Arise Television, Senator Ali Ndume, an APC lawmaker from Borno South, criticized the President for disregarding the federal character principle in his appointments.
Ndume explained that he felt it necessary to address the issue of what he called ‘lopsided appointments,’ emphasizing that, as a lawmaker, he has the right to critique the President, even if they share the same political party.
In response to these allegations, the Presidency published a list of appointees along with their respective geo-political zones. This list indicated that the President appointed 29 individuals from the South West, his home region; 35 from the North West; 22 from the South-South; 16 from the South East; 25 from the North Central; and 24 from the North East.
However, critics of the President have noted that the list was incomplete, as it omitted a key appointee from his home region, Femi Gbajabiamila, the President’s Chief of Staff. This oversight has further fueled concerns over regional disparity in President Tinubu’s administration, particularly highlighting the underrepresentation of the South East in his government.
As discussions on social media intensified, Sunday Dare, the Special Adviser on Media & Public Communication and the President’s spokesperson, offered an apology for the discrepancies in the list.
“We have noticed a number of errors in the list of appointments tweeted. We are sorry. We will provide an updated list later. Thank you,” Dare appealed to Nigerians on X.
However, Dare did not explain why Gbajabiamila’s name was omitted from the list.