Former Senate Leader, Ali Ndume has urged President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to ensure that the South-East is included in future appointments.
Ndume was reacting to the latest round of appointments into governing boards of key federal agencies by President Tinubu.
Describing the appointment of more northerners into boards of federal agencies as a welcome step towards addressing perceived regional grievances, Ndume, in a personally signed statement released in Abuja, said the appointments were consistent with the President’s earlier gestures in May, when 12 top positions were given to northerners in demonstration of his willingness to respond to constructive criticism.
The appointments, announced over the weekend, featured a number of notable names, including Muhammad Babangida, son of former military president Ibrahim Babangida, who now chairs the reconstituted Bank of Agriculture. Others on the list were Lydia Kalat Musa as Chairperson of the Oil and Gas Free Zones Authority, Jamilu Wada Aliyu for the National Educational Research and Development Council, Yahuza Ado Inuwa for the Standards Organisation of Nigeria, and Sanusi Musa (SAN) for the Institute for Peace and Conflict Resolution.
Also appointed were Professor Al-Mustapha Aliyu as Director-General of the Directorate of Technical Cooperation in Africa; Sanusi Garba Rikiji to head the Nigerian Office for Trade Negotiations; and Abdulmumini Aminu-Zaria as Executive Director of the Integrated Water Resources Management Commission.
Preliminary checks show that northern states, particularly Kano and Kaduna, dominate the list with three and two appointees respectively. Niger, Sokoto, and Zamfara also secured slots. Outside the North, Oyo State produced Tomi Somefun as the Managing Director of the National Hydro-Electric Power Producing Areas Development Commission.
“These appointments, alongside those of May, clearly show the President listens to concerns and acts on legitimate agitations,” the Borno South lawmaker said. “It is also reassuring to the North, especially our elders, that President Tinubu is not pushing any agenda to marginalise the region which supported him massively during the 2023 elections.”
But while expressing gratitude, Ndume stressed the need for deliberate efforts to include the South-East in subsequent federal appointments. He warned that the growing perception of exclusion in the region was both damaging and unconstitutional.
“The narrative that the South-East has been sidelined must not be allowed to persist. It is already gaining ground and could worsen if left unaddressed,” Ndume said. “Federal appointments are not about politics alone; they are also a constitutional obligation guided by the principle of Federal Character. Denying a whole region adequate representation is a misstep that needs to be corrected.”
He urged the President to see the next round of appointments as an opportunity to reinforce unity and inclusion.
“While I commend Mr President’s deliberate choices in these appointments, it is my hope that upcoming nominations will reflect national diversity—particularly by ensuring more representation for the South-East,” he added.
