Taiwo Popoola
The opposition African Democratic Congress, ADC, has taken a swipe at President Bola Tinubu over his recent appointments, describing them as an attempt to regain the trust of Northern Nigerians after years of neglect.
The party, which stated this in a statement on Saturday by its National Publicity Secretary, Bolaji Abdullahi, said the move amounted to political panic management rather than sincere efforts at national inclusion.
“You cannot marginalize a region for over twenty-five months and expect applause because you suddenly remembered on the twenty-sixth month that Nigeria is bigger than Lagos State,” the statement read.
The opposition party also alleged that Tinubu’s administration has neglected Nigerians, stressing that the North had been systematically sidelined from critical decision-making since the inception of the Tinubu presidency.
ADC maintained that every major policy and appointment under the current administration had occurred with minimal Northern representation, reiterating that recent gestures were nothing more than consolation prizes.
“But Northerners, as co-owners of our great federal republic, know better than to be deceived by these token appointments. They see through President Tinubu’s actions and can sense that this is not genuine. Tokenism is not inclusion, and symbolism is not governance,” the ADC National Publicity Secretary said.
The party, however, urged the President to abandon what it termed Bourdillon-style appeasement politics and instead pursue genuine national unity through broad-based consultation, policy fairness, and adherence to the principles of federal character.