ADC Slams Tinubu over “Desperate” Northern Appointments, Says Trust Cannot Be Bought

• ADC has condemned President Tinubu’s recent appointments as a last-ditch effort to regain Northern trust after years of neglect
• The party’s spokesman, Bolaji Abdullahi, accused the government of sidelining the North in key decisions while insecurity worsened
• The ADC insists token political gestures cannot replace genuine national inclusion and called on the president to adopt real consultation

The African Democratic Congress (ADC) has strongly criticized President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s recent appointments, describing them as a last-minute attempt to regain trust in Northern Nigeria after months of what the party calls neglect and exclusion.

In a statement issued on Saturday and signed by the party’s National Publicity Secretary, Mallam Bolaji Abdullahi, the ADC rejected the latest moves by the presidency as “too little, too late,” accusing the administration of marginalizing the North for over two years and only now trying to placate the region with what it termed “token appointments.”

“These appointments are nothing more than ‘political panic management,’ a frantic attempt to bandage the gaping wounds inflicted on Northern Nigeria by over a year of calculated neglect, presidential arrogance and unprecedented nepotism,” Abdullahi stated.

ADC: Tinubu not addressing real challenges

The ADC argued that the Tinubu administration had ignored critical security and economic issues affecting the North, including rising bandit attacks and the collapse of rural farming economies following the removal of fuel subsidies.

The statement pointed to what it described as a pattern of decision-making without meaningful Northern representation, which it said had deepened disillusionment and resentment across the region.

“For over a year, this government turned a blind eye as bandits terrorised villages in the north, as our farmers abandoned their land, and as rural economies crumbled under the weight of poorly thought-out fuel subsidy removal,” Abdullahi said.

“Now, under the rising heat of public discontent, and with the emergence of a formidable opposition coalition gaining traction in the North and across the country, President Tinubu suddenly remembers that there are Nigerians to appoint into positions outside his Lagos.”

Northerners can't be bought with appointments

The ADC stressed that Northern Nigerians are unlikely to view the new appointments as genuine gestures of inclusion, arguing instead that the timing reveals a political strategy aimed at quelling criticism rather than addressing the region’s longstanding grievances.

“Every major decision of this administration, from subsidy removal to a majority of the political appointments, have been taken without the North at the table. Now that the consequences of those decisions have become glaring, the President is doling out appointments as consolation prizes,” Abdullahi added.

“Tokenism is not inclusion, and symbolism is not governance.”

The party urged the presidency to move beyond what it called “Bourdillon-style appeasement politics” and instead commit to real national unity through fair representation, dialogue and balanced policy making.

“You cannot patch a broken roof with press releases and photo-ops,” the statement concluded. “And you certainly cannot restore the trust that you have lost with the public by pretending that titles are a substitute for genuine commitment to nation-building.”

Ex-Buhari minister declares war on Tinubu

Earlier, Legit.ng reported that the former minister of Sports and Youth Development, Solomon Dalung, had declared that the 2027 general elections would not just be another electoral cycle but a full-blown confrontation between the Nigerian people and the current administration under President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.

Speaking during a recent interview on News Central, Dalung voiced strong dissatisfaction with the state of the nation, blaming the Tinubu-led government for deepening the hardship faced by ordinary citizens.

Source: Legit.ng