Tinubu’s major security appointments shadowed by allegations of nepotism

President Bola Tinubu replaced security chiefs on Monday and appointed a slew of other top officials for his new government. But the announcements promptly became shadowed by allegations the president favoured his associates and sections of the country.

Mr Tinubu chose former chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, Nuhu Ribadu, as his National Security Adviser, in a major departure from a tradition that saw mostly former military personnel hold that office. Mr Ribadu is a retired police officer.

The president appointed Maj. Gen. C.G Musa as defence chief and Maj. Gen T. A Lagbaja as army chief. He picked Rear Admiral E. A Ogalla as chief of naval staff and Air Vice Marshal H.B Abubakar as the chief of air staff.

The acting inspector-general of police is Kayode Egbetokun, who served as Mr Tinubu’s chief security officer when he was governor of Lagos. Maj. Gen. EPA Undiandeye was named chief of defense intelligence.

The president also appointed Adeniyi Bashir Adewale as the acting comptroller-general of Customs.

In all, Mr Tinubu made 22 appointments, his biggest yet since coming to office.

– Nepotism, cronyism

For a country still deeply divided along ethno-religious lines after an acrimonious election, the regional spread of the appointees quickly got noticed and triggered allegations of nepotism and cronyism.

Many Nigerians accused the president of giving most of the posts to people from his native South-west and parts of North-west and North-east.

“Nigeria is built on a foundation of various ethnicities and not respecting that in governance will only lead to all sorts of avoidable complications,” ‘Demola Olarewaju, a member of the Peoples Democratic Party, wrote on Twitter Monday night. “APC had showed Nigerians it believes only in nepotism.”

The publisher of Sahara Reporters, Omoyele Sowore, tweeted that “The package came with all the -isms: Nepotism, Tribalism, Cronyism =Paddyism.”

– Lessons from the past

For years, former President Muhammadu Buhari faced accusations of running a government that was, perhaps more than any other in recent history, sectional and nepotistic. Despite criticisms, Mr Buhari retained a formular that had an overwhelming majority of his security appointees from the northern part of the country, with most of them Muslims.

One social media user said on Monday his region did not derive real benefits from the appointments as militants and insurgents battered communities, killing and abducting thousands.

“If you live in northern Nigeria, please, conduct a little survey, ask an average northerner if he wants Tinubu to reward northern politicians with appointments, and I promise most of them would say ‘no’. How did Buhari’s nepotism help us? We don’t care. Yorubas should take all,” said Abduljalal Musa Aliyu.

– No Igbo?

The words “nepotism” and “No Igbo” trended on social media after the announcement. Many accused the president of leaving native Igbo from the South-east out of his list.

Supporters of the government pushed back. Bayo Onanuga, a member of the Tinubu presidential campaign team, said the new naval chief, Mr Ogalla, is from Enugu and Mr Undiandeye is from Cross River.

“For those accusing the Tinubu government of nepotism, the Chief of Naval Staff Rear Admiral Emmanuel Ogalla is from Igbo Eze North LGA of Enugu State. Chief of Intelligence is from Cross River,” he wrote. “Critics should try to dig for information before rushing to judgment.”

While Mr Onanuga shared Mr Ogalla’s full names as Emmanuel Ikechukwu Ogalla, the official statement announcing his appointment listed him as E. A Ogalla. It was not immediately clear why there was disparity in the initial “A” and the name “Ikechukwu”.

Last week, President Tinubu appointed eight advisers including Dele Alake, who oversees his communication and strategy, and Wale Edun, as special adviser on monetary policies.

Here is the fill list of the appointees:

1. Nuhu Ribadu National Security Adviser
2. Gen. C.G Musa Chief of Defence Staff
3. T. A Lagbaja Chief of Army Staff
4. Rear Admiral E. A Ogalla Chief of Naval Staff
5. AVM H.B Abubakar Chief of Air Staff
6. DIG Kayode Egbetokun Acting Inspector-General of Police
7. Gen. EPA Undiandeye Chief of Defense Intelligence
8. Adebisi Onasanya Brigade of Guards Commander
9. Col. Moshood Abiodun Yusuf 7 Guards Battalion, Asokoro, Abuja
10. Col. Auwalu Baba Inuwa 177, Guards Battalion, Keffi, Nasarawa State
11. Col. Mohammed J. Abdulkarim 102 Guards Battalion, Suleja, Niger
12. Col. Olumide A. Akingbesote 176 Guards Battalion, Gwagwalada
13. Isa Farouk Audu, (N/14695) Commanding Officer State House Artillery

14. Kazeem Olalekan Sunmonu (N/16183) Second-in-Command, State House Artillery
15. Kamaru Koyejo Hamzat (N/14656) Commanding Officer, State House Military Intelligence
16. TS Adeola (N/12860) Commanding Officer, State House Armament
17. A. Aminu (N/18578) Second-in- Command, State House Armament
18. Hadiza Bala Usman Special Adviser, Policy Coordination
19. Hannatu Musa Musawa Special Adviser, Culture and Entertainment Economy
20. Abdullahi Abubakar Gumel Senior Special Assistant, National Assembly Matters (Senate)
21. (Barr) Olarewaju Kunle Ibrahim Senior Special Assistant, National Assembly Matters (House of Representatives)
22. Adeniyi Bashir Adewale as the Ag. Comptroller General of Customs