Presidency Counters Nepotism Claims with Regional Appointment Data

The administration of President Bola Tinubu found itself at the center of a controversy over alleged favoritism in the appointment of security agency heads.

Critics accused the President of "Yorubanisation," suggesting that he was disproportionately appointing individuals from the South-West, his home region, to key security positions.

This debate intensified following the appointment of Major General Olufemi Oluyede as Acting Chief of Army Staff, who, like Tinubu and the substantive Chief of Army Staff, General Tahoreed Lagbaja, hails from the South-West.

To address these allegations, Sunday Dare, Special Adviser to the President on Public Communications and Orientation, took to social media to present evidence countering the claims.

On Saturday, November 2, Dare shared a detailed list of the regional distribution of security agency appointments made by the Tinubu administration.

According to this list, the North West leads with eight appointees, followed by the South West with five, and the North Central with four.

The North East has three appointees, while both the South-South and South-East regions have one each.

Dare emphasized the importance of facts in this discourse, stating, "Facts do not lie. Below we see laid bare the facts about the regional outlook of President Tinubu’s appointments within 20 security agencies.

The label of him favouring Yorubas in the Security set-up does not fit."