HURIWA accuses Tinubu of ‘pro-ethnic agenda’ in light of recent appointments

President Bola Tinubu has been accused of prejudice by the civil rights organisation Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria (HURIWA), which claims that members of his ethnic group received the majority of the “key appointments” in his cabinet.

The group said that the nomination of a new governor of the central bank and chairman of the federal inland revenue service is a testimonial in a statement released by its national coordinator, Comrade Emmanuel Onwubiko, on Monday.

The group said, “With President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s recent approval of the nomination of Olayemi Cardoso to serve as the substantive new Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), some 48 hours after appointing Zachaeus Adedeji as the acting chairman of the Federal Inland Revenue Service, FIRS, the strong perception that the President is pushing an unseemly pro-ethnic agenda became worryingly stronger, Adedeji is to ‘serve in an acting capacity for 90 days before his subsequent confirmation’ as the substantive chairman of FIRS for a term of four years in the first instance.

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“With a little over 100 days on the saddle, the President’s appointments have shown he appears to have special consideration for people from his South-West region, especially those with links to Lagos State.

“If President Tinubu’s appointment of new service (chiefs) sparked new hope and drew deserved plaudits in that it recognised the nation’s diversity, his subsequent appointments curiously depart from that template.”

The group further noted that, “Key appointments traversing the nation’s crucial security, judicial and economic sectors are now unabashedly cornered by the South-West region. A quick, non-exhaustive check-list would include: Petroleum Minister: Bola Tinubu; Chief of Staff: Femi Gbajabiamila; Minister of Justice: Lateef Fagbemi; Minister of Finance and the Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Mr. Wale Edun; Acting Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Mr. Folashodun Shonubi who now gives way to a substantive CBN boss Olayemi Cardoso.

“The Human Rights Writers’ Association of Nigeria (HURIWA), strongly believes that this is the wrong path to thread, especially against the background of deep mistrust, misery, political and economic dislocations brazenly birthed by the predecessor administration.”

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