Tinubu’s appointments not favouring only Yorubas – Presidency

The Presidency has reacted to recent complaints that President Bola Tinubu is only favouring the South West in his political appointments.

The response comes after Senator Ali Ndume, who represents Borno South, accused the president of not giving fair representation to all parts of the country in line with the Nigerian Constitution.

Ndume, during a TV interview, argued that the president had gone against the section of the Constitution that calls for equal representation across Nigeria’s regions.

He claimed that most of the appointments made so far seemed to benefit the South West, where the president is from, instead of reflecting the country’s full diversity.

However, the Presidency has now denied these claims.

In a statement shared by Sunday Dare, a senior aide to the president, the government said Tinubu has always worked with people from different regions.

According to Dare, Tinubu has a long history of bringing people from different backgrounds into his team, including during his time as Lagos State Governor.

Dare said the accusations were unfair and failed to look at the full list of federal appointments made so far.

He pointed out that if people looked beyond the new appointments and considered all the top federal positions filled by Tinubu since he became president, they would see a more balanced picture.

He argued that it was too early to say the appointments were one-sided, as more appointments were still expected.

He added that from a review of 134 key federal appointments made so far, 71 went to the North while 63 went to the South.

Of those 63 southern positions, 29 were from the South West, 21 from the South South, and 16 from the South East.

The Presidency insisted that Tinubu’s decisions are not based on tribe or religion, and that his aim is to build a strong and united country with input from every region.

See list of appointees below: