ADC: It’s too late for Tinubu to appease the north with token appointments

The African Democratic Congress (ADC) says President Bola Tinubu’s latest appointments are a “desperate ploy to regain the trust of northern Nigerians”.

In recent months, many Nigerians—including prominent political figures—have criticised Tinubu’s appointments as “lopsided” and in violation of the federal character principle enshrined in the constitution.

In May, the federal government named 12 northerners to the management teams of various federal agencies, a move seen by critics as an afterthought.

On Friday, Tinubu also appointed Muhammad Babangida, son of former military president Ibrahim Babangida, as chairman of the Bank of Agriculture (BOA).

In a statement on Saturday, Bolaji Abdullahi, the interim national publicity secretary of the ADC, described the appointments as a “cynical attempt to buy back the goodwill the president spent the last year squandering”.

Abdullahi claimed the government had sidelined the region for over 25 months and described the appointments as “too little, too late”.

The ADC spokesperson added that the federal government cannot expect applause now “just because it suddenly remembered Nigeria is bigger than Lagos”.

He also said the recent appointments were nothing more than “political panic management” in the face of rising public anger and the growing strength of the opposition, especially in the north”.

“For over a year, this government looked away while bandits terrorised northern communities, farmers fled their lands, and rural economies collapsed under the impact of subsidy removal,” he said.

“Now, with opposition coalitions gaining traction, Tinubu suddenly remembers to appoint northerners into key positions.”

Abdullahi said all major decisions of the Tinubu administration—from petrol subsidy removal to political appointments—were made without input from the north.

“Now that the consequences of those decisions are glaring, the president is handing out appointments as if they are consolation prizes,” he said.

“Northerners, as co-owners of this republic, will not be deceived by such tokenism. They can see through the president’s actions and recognise that symbolism is not governance.”

He asked Tinubu to abandon what he called “Bourdillon-style appeasement politics” and instead pursue genuine national inclusion.

“You cannot patch a broken roof with press statements and photo-ops,” Abdullahi said.

“You certainly cannot restore public trust by pretending that appointments are a substitute for real commitment to nation-building.”