Fed. Appointments: Tinubu Knocks Ndume, Calls Him Hypocrite; Your Kinsmen Appointed To NNPC

President Tinubu has reacted to the allegation by Senator Ali Ndume that his appointment has favoured a section of the country since he came to power two yeara ago.

Senator Ndume, represnting Borno South in the Nigerian Senate is one of the ardent critics of the president, even though he claimed to be among those closest to Tinubu from the northern part of the country.

The senate had on Monday while speaing on a Channel Television programme renewed his attack on Tinubu, calling him out for appointing more persons from the south west into his government.

The president is from the south west Nigeria.

He called on the president to be more nationalistic in his appointment, saying he should see the whole of the country as his constituency.

But in a statement Bayo Onanuga, the Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy denied the allegation, the president he explained, has been fair to all the regions in his appointments, saying for instance, that Tinubu recently appointed two of Ndume’s ‘kinsmen’ into the board of the Nigeria National Petroleum Company, NNPC Limited.

The presidential spokesman urged the senator to always put the interest of the country first rather than grandstanding and chasing crowd in his quest to criticise the president, noting that Tinubu’s appointments have been bereft of lopsidedness.

Below, Onanuga’s statement titled ‘A response to Ali Ndume’.

“While the Borno senator grandstanded as a moral authority on equity,  he forgot to tell his interviewer that two of his kinsmen featured in recent NNPC Limited top appointments. The Chairman, appointed by President Tinubu, is from Ndume’s senatorial district.  If Tinubu and his surrogates’ choices are so “tribal,” how did two of Ndume’s kinsmen clinch NNPC’s top roles?

“As a politician, Ndume has proven time and time again that he is allergic to facts and addicted to theatrics. His habit of firing half-baked criticisms—only to be contradicted by facts—proves he’s more interested in headline-chasing, rabble rousing, stoking divisive narratives than offering constructive criticism.

“President Tinubu is deeply committed to fostering a government that embraces all Nigerians, irrespective of their ethnic or regional affiliations. He aims to harness our nation’s diverse strengths to achieve a common goal: building a prosperous Nigeria. The President’s appointments are—and will continue to be—based on merit, integrity, geographical spread and a demonstrable capacity to serve the Nigerian people, not Ndume’s cherry-picked tribal arithmetic.

“We urge Ndume to elevate public discourse and avoid misinformation and baseless criticism. This is a disservice to the nation and the behaviour least expected from a Nigerian Senator.”