The Presidency has strongly criticized Senator Ali Ndume of Borno South over his claim that President Bola Tinubu’s appointments are unfair and not evenly spread across Nigeria.
Senator Ndume, a former Senate Majority Leader, made the accusation during an interview on Arise Television’s Prime Time on Monday. He said that President Tinubu had failed to follow the federal character principle, which ensures fair representation of all regions in government appointments.
“All I am saying is to call the attention of Mr President to such infractions so that it can be corrected; otherwise, you know, these things can boomerang at a certain period,” Ndume warned during the broadcast.
But the Presidency fired back on Tuesday, calling Ndume’s statement “hypocritical” and “selective.”
The President’s Special Adviser on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, issued a statement accusing Ndume of twisting the truth and seeking media attention rather than speaking facts.
“While the Borno senator grandstanded as a moral authority on equity, he forgot to tell his interviewer that two of his kinsmen featured in the recent NNPC Limited top appointments,” Onanuga said.
He pointed out that Ahmadu Kida, who was appointed Chairman of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited by President Tinubu, is from Ndume’s own senatorial district.
“If Tinubu and his surrogates’ choices are so ‘tribal,’ how did two of Ndume’s kinsmen clinch NNPC’s top roles?” Onanuga asked.
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The Presidency said it was disappointed that Ndume continued to ignore facts in favor of drama.
“His habit of firing half-baked criticisms—only to be contradicted by facts—proves he’s more interested in headline-chasing, rabble-rousing, and stoking divisive narratives than offering constructive criticism,” the statement read.
Onanuga added that President Tinubu is committed to building a government that represents all Nigerians regardless of region or ethnicity. He stressed that appointments under Tinubu are based on merit, character, national balance, and the ability to deliver—not tribalism or favoritism.
“The President’s appointments are—and will continue to be—based on merit, integrity, geographical spread and a demonstrable capacity to serve the Nigerian people, not Ndume’s cherry-picked tribal arithmetic,” he said.
Also reacting to Ndume’s remarks, Senator Sunday Karimi, who represents Kogi West, condemned Ndume’s public criticism of President Tinubu and the All Progressives Congress (APC).
“Rather than playing to the gallery and criticising the government, Senator Ndume, as a leader of his people, should go back home and liaise with his people on solving Boko Haram problems. Insecurity has a local solution,” Karimi said in a statement he personally signed.
He urged Ndume to stop using media platforms to attack the government and instead focus on pressing issues like insecurity in the North-East, which has plagued Borno State for years.
Karimi explained that insecurity remains a national crisis, consuming over 50 percent of Nigeria’s financial resources, with devastating human and economic losses.
“The country has lost a lot of its soldiers and trillions of Naira fighting insurgents in Senator Ndume’s senatorial district in the last decades,” he said.
He also shared a personal story, saying, “In fact, I lost one of the young officers, a captain in the Nigerian Army from my senatorial district serving in his community three weeks ago.”
Karimi praised his own efforts to improve security in Kogi West, which include setting up a military base and providing logistics support for security operations to fight banditry and kidnapping.
“Lots of young Nigerians have lost their lives fighting to defend the territorial integrity of our country. Those are more serious and compelling issues threatening our collective existence,” he concluded.