“Too Little, Too Late” — ADC Slams Tinubu’s Northern Appointments as ‘Political Panic Management’

The African Democratic Congress (ADC) has sharply criticised President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s recent appointments targeting Northern Nigeria, describing them as a last-minute, insincere attempt to appease a region the party says has been neglected since the beginning of his administration.

In a statement issued by the party’s National Publicity Secretary, Mallam Bolaji Abdullahi, the ADC labelled the appointments a “desperate and cynical attempt” to regain the trust of Northern Nigerians after more than a year of what it called deliberate exclusion and marginalisation.

Abdullahi argued that the new appointments do not reflect a genuine commitment to national unity or balanced governance but instead reek of “political panic management.” He said the timing suggests the presidency is more interested in optics than substance, accusing the government of offering “consolation prizes” instead of real solutions.

“You cannot marginalise a region for over twenty-five months and expect applause simply because, in the twenty-sixth month, you suddenly remember that Nigeria is bigger than Lagos State,” Abdullahi said.

The ADC linked the move to broader governance failures, including the removal of fuel subsidies and the worsening security crisis in the North. Abdullahi said that for over a year, the Tinubu administration had ignored widespread suffering in Northern communities, allowing insecurity to fester while farmers abandoned their lands and rural economies collapsed.

He further criticised the lack of Northern input in key national decisions, such as the removal of fuel subsidies and earlier federal appointments, accusing the government of offering what he described as “symbolic gestures” only after public outrage became impossible to ignore.

“Tokenism is not inclusion, and symbolism is not governance,” Abdullahi stated, stressing that Northerners would not be swayed by surface-level appointments lacking meaningful change.

The ADC concluded by urging the Tinubu administration to abandon what it termed “Bourdillon-style appeasement politics” and embrace genuine national inclusion through equitable policymaking, proper consultation, and full adherence to the federal character principle.

“You can’t fix a leaking roof with press statements and photo opportunities. And you certainly can’t rebuild public trust by pretending that appointments are a replacement for real leadership,” Abdullahi said.