FG headcounts Northerners appointed by Tinubu
Against the cries of marginalisation by the North, the Federal Government has dispelled the allegation by engaging in a physical headcount of Northerners appointed in President Bola Tinubu’s administration.
Assessed by the improvement in revenue and massive debt reduction of the states, the North has made more significant economic progress under Tinubu, according to the Minister of Budget and Economic Planning, Abubakar Bagudu.
The list of Tinubu’s appointees of Northern extraction was presented at the interactive session organised by the Sir Ahmadu Bello Memorial Foundation (SABMF), at Arewa House, Kaduna.
The two-day interactive session on government-citizens engagement on Tinubu’s two-year performance in office, with the theme, ‘Assessing Electoral Promises: Fostering Government-Citizen Engagement for National Unity’ began on Tuesday.
Meanwhile, when it was time for the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), George Akume, to deliver his speech, the Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Malagi, quickly called on all the Federal Government appointees to stand before the crowd in the hall for physical assessment.
Malagi said the appointments were just a “flash in the pan, because more are still coming and we will continue to attend your event whether you invite us or not”.
In his address, the SGF told Northern leaders to exercise patience and support Tinubu to complete two terms of office in 2031, so that the North would comfortably take over the affairs of the country by 2031.
“Let me share with you what our leaders did in 1999, pre-Jos Convention of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). They recognised, and rightly too, that the only way to ensure the unity and territorial integrity of our dear country was to entrench in our minds and practise rotational presidency between the South and North.”
The engagement, which commenced on Tuesday, was attended by over 60 Northern federal political appointees, ministers, governors and thought leaders in the region, particularly of the Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF).
The engagement was to evaluate Tinubu’s election promises to its members.
Bagudu stated that the President’s bold economic reforms increased revenue for the states, reduced their debt burden and freed up more resources for social and infrastructural development.
The minister said the situation greatly benefited the 19 Northern states, whose federally allocated revenue increased significantly since Tinubu took office on May 29, 2023.
He explained that Tinubu’s reforms led to significant revenue growth for subnational governments, pointing out that between May 2023 and June 2025, total net statutory revenue and VAT allocation to states and local councils more than doubled, rising from N458.81 billion to N991.81 billion.
This, according to him, reflects an increase of N533 billion (116.17 per cent) across the federation. While some Northern leaders believed the region had not been treated fairly, the 19 governors and federal political appointees held a different view, supported by facts and data about the President’s programmes in the area.
