The Southwest APC group in the protest letter captioned “Dangers of Lagosizing Southwest,“ said it has “observed with utmost dismay the ongoing unpleasant development at the presidency whereby most appointments are being filled with ‘Lagos boys’.”
By Emma Ogbuehi
A group of APC stalwarts from the Southwest region has accused President Bola Tinubu of lopsided appointments and unbridled nepotism.
The All Progressives Congress (APC) members under the auspices of “South West APC Support Groups” flayed Tinubu alleging nepotism in appointments, the same charges Nigerians levelled against former President Muhammadu Buhari.
The group in a letter entitled “A letter of appeal to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu” dated July 19, 2023, and captioned “Dangers of Lagosizing Southwest,“ said it has “observed with utmost dismay the ongoing unpleasant development at the presidency whereby most appointments are being filled with ‘Lagos boys’.”
In the letter signed by Comrade Dele Fulani, Coordinator, and Comrade Lanre Asiwaju, Secretary, the group said, “We the Southwest APC Support groups are constrained to say that this trend, if not checked, might make the South West the first boiling point of the Tinubu administration,” the group warned.
Speaking further, the group said: “We hereby wish to call the attention of Your Excellency to this ugly development and to state that a situation whereby politicians from Lagos State are seen to be the ones taking all the benefits that accrue to the entire Southwest is totally unacceptable to other States of the zone as Lagos is not the only State in Southwest.
“A cursory look at the appointments made so far under this administration showed that majority of the people around Mr. President are all Lagos politicians.
“While they may not all be indigenes of Lagos, but these are politicians based in Lagos, who have played all their politics in Lagos, based in Lagos and as a matter of fact made Lagos their immediate constituency.
“Looking at the appointments of 20 aides that was recently made by Mr. President, we can categorically pinpoint 13 of them who are Lagos-based politicians.”
The group pointed to the arrival of former Lagos Governor, Akinwunmi Ambode into the picture as one of the appointment hopefuls as another fact in this direction.
“Another scenario is Your Excellency’s first trip to France as president, the entourage that accompanied you on that journey are predominantly those from Lagos State despite the fact that most of them are without official portfolio or capacity.
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“This is uncalled for; this administration should not be made an all-Lagos affair as it will completely go against the campaign promise of national inclusion.
“Truly, this trend does not project Mr. President as a nationalist and a pan-Nigerian leader,” the disenchanted members lamented.
“Politicians from Lagos State should stop demonstrating unnecessary sense of entitlement to this administration as they contributed nothing to the success of Mr. President and cease from giving him pressure over appointments.
“If the President fails to correct this anomaly, the political narrative might change come next election,” the group warned.
Speaking on Arise TV on Friday during an interview on “The Morning Show,” the coordinator, Dele Fulani, who is an APC stalwart accused Tinubu of nepotism and lopsided appointments.
Mr. Fulani lamented that he can’t do anything in the villa anymore without calling somebody from Lagos.
“When I need to access the villa, I must call somebody from Lagos to get access. President Tinubu should spread out to other regions. We have men of great capacities all over,” he advised.
Below is the letter
