RipplesMetrics: A dive into geo-political spread of Tinubu’s appointments one month into office

President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has appointed at least 23 people into different positions one month after he assumed office as the 16th president of Nigeria on May 29th.

These appointments also came side by side some socioeconomic decisions the president has taken to improve the country’s economy. While mixed reactions have trailed some of these decisions, the appointment of these officials has also suffered the same.

Tinubu, who succeeded Muhammadu Buhari, assumed office after pulling 8,794,726 votes to defeat 17 other contenders for the seat. According to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), 25.3 million out of 93.5 million registered voters voted during the February 25, 2023 general election.

This is just 27 per cent of the registered voters and the lowest when compared to the previous election since 1999.

Upon assumption into office, the president promised, in his inaugural speech, to tackle issues concerning security, economy, job creation, agriculture, fuel subsidy, monetary policy and foreign policy.

The president appointed nine Special Advisers, two Senior Special Advisers, one Secretary to the Government of the Federation, one Chief of Staff and deputy, one State Chief of Protocol and eight Service Chiefs.

Timeline to the appointment: SGF, COS, SA

A few hours after the inauguration of Tinubu as president, he appointed Victor Adeleke as State Chief of Protocol (SCOP). Adeleke succeeds Hussaini Adamu, who was appointed by former president Buhari.

Three days later, the president appointed Femi Gbajabiamila, the House of Representatives speaker, as chief of staff. The appointment of the former HoR speaker generated many controversies about the position of the law on the appointment of a serving lawmaker by the executive arm up until the 9th HoR was dissolved.

Tinubu also appointed the former Governor of Benue State and immediate past Minister of Special Duties, George Akume, as the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF) and Sen. Ibrahim Hassan Hadejia, a former Deputy Governor of Jigawa State, as Deputy Chief of Staff.

Some days after, the president announced the appointment of eight special advisers including a former Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, Nuhu Ribadu, and a former Lagos Commissioner for Information, Dele Alake

Contained in the list was also Yau Darazo; Special Adviser, Political and Intergovernmental Affairs; Wale Edun; Special Adviser, Monetary Policies; Olu Verheijen; Special Adviser, Energy; Zacchaeus Adedeji; Special Adviser, Revenue; John Ugochukwu Uwajumogu; Special Adviser, Industry, Trade and Investment and Dr (Mrs.) Salma Ibrahim Anas; Special Adviser, Health.

At the time of these appointment, there were confusions as to what position Ribadu was occupying. But in the following weeks, he was reappointed as the National Security Adviser.

Appointment of Service Chiefs

Tinubu kickstarted his administration by meeting with the service chiefs three days after he assumed office.

The thrust of the meeting was to address and update the new president on the country’s security issues.

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In his inaugural speech, Tinubu said “Security shall be the top priority of our administration because neither prosperity nor justice can prevail amidst insecurity and violence.”

However, 18 days later, Tinbu sacked all service chiefs including the Inspector General of Police and appointed replacements for them.

In the new arrangement, Christopher Gwabin Musa will replace Gen. Lucky Irabor as the Chief of Defence Staff while Taoreed Abiodun Lagbaja has succeeded Lt. Gen. Faruk Yahaya as the Chief of Army Staff.

Also, Emmanuel Ogalla has been appointed the new Chief of Naval Staff in place of Vice Admiral Awwal Zubairu Gambo and Hassan Bala Abubakar will take over from Air Vice Marshall Oladayo Amao as the Chief of Air Staff, Kayode Egbetokun was appointed the Acting Inspector-General of Police to replace Usman Alkali Baba as IGP.

The sack of the service chiefs may indicate the readiness of the president to bring a new approach to the fight against terrorism and other criminalities in the country. The relentless attack on communities and other soft targets means that the government cannot afford to fold its arms and allow the criminals to foist a reign of terror in the land or accelerate its descent into a state of lawlessness.

However, the president also suspended the Central Bank Governor, Godwin Emiefele and the chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, Abdulrasheed Bawa, from office.

Geo-political spread of Tinubu’s appointment

So far, the president has made appointments from every geo-political zone of the country, although unevenly. While the south-west has received the bulk of the share with nine appointments, the south-east has received the least with only one appointment so far.

The north-west zone comes second with six appointments, while the north-east has received three, with the south-south and north central both getting two each.

By James Odunayo

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