To counter the allegation that President Bola Tinubu’s administration favours the South-West regarding appointments in the security sector, the Presidency has publicly released hard facts on the situation.
The president last week, named Major General Olufemi Oluyede as Acting Chief of Army Staff (COAS), to hold forth for the substantive COAS, General Tahoreed Lagbaja, who has been away from the country treating an undisclosed ailment.
Oluyede hails from the southwest (Ekiti State) same as Lagbaja and Tinubu, who are from Osun and Lagos states, respectively.
This tribal affinity has led to insinuations in some quarters that the President has perfected the Yorubaniation (a term which loosely interprets as favouring the Yoruba) of the security sector at the expense of other regions.
The accusers argued that Tinubu could have opted for an equally competent general to deputize for Lagbaja instead of another person from the South-West
Debunking the ‘Yorubanisation’ claim, Sunday Dare, Special Adviser to the President on Public Communications and Orientation, published a list of the heads of security agecies appointed by the current administration.
The post, shared on his X account on Saturday, November 2, 2024, showed that the North West has the highest number of appointees (eight), followed by the South West (five) and North Central (four).
