Since his inauguration in 2023, President Bola Tinubu has continued to appoint Yoruba people to key positions, marginalising other regions in disregard of the Federal Character Act.
A check revealed that sensitive appointments made so far by President Tinubu are lopsided as they mainly favour Yoruba people.
The President is Yoruba, from southwest Nigeria.
Some have argued that Tinubu’s appointments mirror the actions of his predecessors, particularly former President Buhari, who was accused of nepotism and favoring northern Nigerians in key positions.
Checks showed that most members of the President’s kitchen cabinet led by his Chief of Staff, Femi Gbajabiamila, are from the southwest region.
It also showed Tinubu appointed his people to head most of the security agencies.
Some of the Yoruba people appointed by Tinubu to key positions are the Inspector General of Police, Kayode Adeolu Egbetokun; Chief of Army Staff, Lieutenant General Taoreed Lagbaja; Director General of the Department of State Services, Mr Adeola Oluwatosin Ajayi; Executive Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, Olanipekun Olukoyede and Comptroller-General of Nigerian Customs, Bashir Adewale Adeniyi.
Others are Comptroller General (CG) of the Nigeria Immigration Service, Kemi Nandap; Commander of the Guards Brigade (Presidential Villa), Brigadier General Adebisi Onasanya; Chief Security Officer (CSO) to President, Rasheed Lawal, who recently replaced Adegboyega Fasasi and Aide-De-Camp (ADC) Nurudeen Yusuf, a Yoruba man from Kwara state.
Section 14 (3) of the Federal Character Act of the Constitution states as follows, “The composition of the Government of the Federation or any of its agencies and the conduct of its affairs shall be carried out in such a manner as to reflect the federal character of Nigeria and the need to promote national unity, and also to command national loyalty, thereby ensuring that there shall be no predominance of persons from a few states or from a few ethnic or other sectional groups in that Government or in any of its agencies.”
However, under Tinubu, the southwest region takes the bulk of the appointments.
While the southwest region has 11 ministers and ministers-designate, the southeast region could only boast of five.
The Ministers of Finance, Education, Trade and Industry (designate), Petroleum (President Tinubu), Marine & Blue Economy, Power, Communications, Interior, Solid Minerals, Youth and Environment and Ecological Management (State) are all Yoruba from the southwest region.
Though, the Minister of Justice and Attorney General, Lateef Olasunkanmi Fagbemi (SAN) is another Yoruba man in the cabinet, he is from Kwara State in the North Central region.
Many of the President’s appointees to head key agencies and parastatals are also Yoruba from Tinubu’s region.
These are the Central Bank of Nigeria, Bank of Industry, Federal Inland Revenue Service, Nigeria Incentive-Based Risk Sharing System for Agricultural Lending (NIRSAL Plc.), Bureau of Public Enterprises, Bureau of Public Procurement, Office of the Accountant General of the Federation, and Office of the Head of Service of the Federation.
Others are State House Permanent Secretary, National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control, Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), National Pension Commission (PenCom), Nigeria Export Processing Zones Authority, Nigeria Social Insurance Trust Fund, Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria and Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN).
Recently, some Northern groups slammed President Tinubu over what they described as the dominance of the South-West people in the appointment of heads of security agencies.
According to them, the appointments will promote sectionalism in the country.
In April 2024, Northern Elders Forum said it regretted supporting Tinubu during the 2023 presidential election, adding that it would support someone “more inclusive, less controversial, and more aligned with the interests of all regions of the country” in the 2027 election.
