Token appointments won’t win back trust of Northerners, ADC tells Tinubu
The African Democratic Congress (ADC) has criticised President Bola Tinubu’s recent appointments, describing them as a desperate and insincere attempt to win back the trust of Northern Nigerians after prolonged neglect.
In a statement signed by its National Publicity Secretary, Bolaji Abdullahi, the ADC said the appointments were “too little, too late,” and accused the Tinubu administration of marginalising the North for over 25 months.
“These new appointments amount to political panic management,” the party said. “They are a hasty attempt to cover the deep wounds caused by over a year of calculated neglect, presidential arrogance, and nepotism.”
Abdullahi accused the government of ignoring widespread insecurity in the region, especially as bandits terrorised communities, farmers abandoned their lands, and local economies suffered due to the fuel subsidy removal.
“Now, under the heat of public anger and growing opposition in the North, the President suddenly remembers to appoint people from outside Lagos,” he added.
The ADC argued that the North has been excluded from critical decisions, and that recent appointments were merely symbolic and lacked genuine intent. “Tokenism is not inclusion, and symbolism is not governance,” Abdullahi said.
The party urged the administration to replace its “Bourdillon-style appeasement politics” with genuine national inclusion, based on fairness, consultation, and equity in policy decisions.
“You cannot patch a broken roof with press releases. The trust of Nigerians cannot be regained with titles and photo-ops but with a sincere commitment to nation-building,” the statement concluded.
