‘We’re sorry,’ Presidency apologises over federal appointments list
The Presidency has apologised for the errors in the list of appointments released to counter the narrative about President Bola Tinubu’s alleged lopsided appointments.
The President’s appointments have been a topic of conversation lately as opposition politicians accuse him of favouring his tribesmen and women over Nigerians from other ethnic groups.
In a recent interview with Arise Television, Senator Ali Ndume, an APC lawmaker representing Borno South, accused the President of violating the federal character principle in his appointments.
Ndume said he decided to call the President’s attention to his ‘lopsided appointment’ because, as a lawmaker, he has the right to criticize the President even though they belong to the same party.
To counter the allegation, the Presidency released a list of President Tinubu’s appointees and their geo-political zones.
The list showed that the President had appointed 29 people from the South West, his home region, 35 from the North West, 22 from the South-South, 16 from the South East, 25 from North Central and 24 from the North East.
However, the President’s critics have pointed out that the list was not comprehensive, as the name of a major appointee from the President’s home region was missing.
The omission of the President’s Chief of Staff, Femi Gbajabiamila, from the list further strengthened the regional imbalance narrative against President Tinubu’s administration, as the list clearly showed that the South East is highly underrepresented in his government.
As the document sparked debate on social media, Sunday Dare, the Special Adviser, Media & Public Communication/Spokesperson to the President, has tendered an apology for the errors 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.