Presidency express regret for errors in published appointment list

The Presidency has apologized for wrongness in the list of federal appointments recently released to address claims of bias in President Bola Tinubu’s selection of appointees.

Tinubu’s appointment decisions have come under scrutiny with critics, particularly opposition figures, alleging a preference for individuals from his ethnic group over those from other regions.

In a recent interview with Arise Television, Senator Ali Ndume, an APC lawmaker representing Borno South, accused the President of breaching the federal character principle through skewed appointments.

Senator Ndume had explained that notwithstanding his membership of the ruling party, he felt compelled to speak out as part of his legislative responsibility.

In response to these criticisms, the Presidency published a breakdown of Tinubu’s appointments by geo-political zones.

According to the document, 29 appointments were from the South West, 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.

Still, the list drew more backlash for omitting a key figure like Femi Gbajabiamila, the President’s Chief of Staff, whose inclusion would have added to the South West number.

The oversight reignited criticism over regional imbalance.

As the controversy spread across social media, Sunday Dare, Special Adviser on Media & Public Communication and Spokesperson to the President apologised via X on Thursday morning.

“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 tweeted at 7:55 am Thursday.