Why We Omitted Gbajabiamila’s Name In Tinubu’s Appointee List – Presidency

The Presidency has admitted to errors in the newly released list of President Bola Tinubu’s appointees, following backlash over the omission of Chief of Staff Femi Gbajabiamila and allegations of lopsided appointments.

In a post on Thursday via X (formerly Twitter), the Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Sunday Dare, acknowledged the discrepancies and pledged to issue a corrected list.

“We have noticed a number of errors in the list of appointments tweeted. We are sorry. We will provide an updated list later,” Dare stated.

The original list covered appointments across the South West, South-South, North East, North West, North Central, and South East regions.

Tinubu, who hails from the South West, was accused of favouring his region with 29 high-profile appointments. Notably, Gbajabiamila was absent from the list despite his prominent role in the administration.

According to the breakdown, the North Central got 25 slots, North East had 24, North West received the highest with 36, South South had 22, while the South East had the least with 16 appointments.

Critics argued that Tinubu concentrated top positions—including Minister of Finance (Wale Edun), Minister of Solid Minerals (Dele Alake), Inspector General of Police (Kayode Egbetokun), Chief of Army Staff (Taoreed Lagbaja), DG of DSS (Adeola Ajayi), and EFCC Chairman (Olanipekun Olukoyede)—in the South West.

The underrepresentation of the South East sparked widespread concern over equity and inclusion in governance.

While critics condemned the list as reflective of ethnic imbalance, supporters of the president defended the appointments, claiming they were based on competence and loyalty.