Alleges Marginalization of DCG BU Nwafor in Favour of Tinubu’s Kinsman
The apex Igbo socio-cultural organization, Ohanaeze Ndigbo Worldwide, has strongly condemned President Bola Ahmed Tinubu over what it described as an “act of institutional injustice and ethnic bigotry” following the tenure extension granted to the Comptroller General of the Nigeria Customs Service, Bashir Adewale Adeniyi.
In a scathing statement issued by its National Publicity Secretary, Dr. Ezechi Chukwu, Ohanaeze accused President Tinubu of deliberately blocking the legitimate ascension of Deputy Comptroller General (DCG) BU Nwafor from Anambra State, who is next in line for the top Customs position.
“President Tinubu’s decision to extend the tenure of CG Bashir Adeniyi, who is due for retirement, is a tactful manoeuvre to deny DCG Nwafor her rightful elevation to the rank of Comptroller General,” the group said.
According to the statement, the extension now strategically places DCG KI Adeola, who is junior to Nwafor but will remain in service beyond 2026, as the likely successor to CG Adeniyi. DCG Nwafor, on the other hand, is due for retirement in October 2026, making the extension a move that effectively sidelines her.
Ohanaeze decried the development as “the crown-jewel of institutional unfairness, peak of favouritism and ultimate display of blatant nepotism over merit, bureaucratic standard, and social conscience.”
“This discriminatory act is a violation of the principle of national unity and the tenets of the Nigerian national anthem which echoes: ‘Though tribe and tongue may differ, in brotherhood we stand,’” the statement continued. “Is this the prototype of the Nigerian brand of brotherhood and patriotism? Can we continue to pretend that we are one people and one nation in the face of this canonic ethnic profiling?”
The group emphasized that the action not only undermines meritocracy but also contradicts the constitutional federal character principle designed to ensure equitable representation across the country.
“We therefore call on President Tinubu to revisit this obvious act of robbing Peter to pay Paul which amounts to injustice, inequity, failure of public morality, and a bruise on national pride,” Ohanaeze said.
The statement concluded with a direct question to the Tinubu administration: “What has become of the constitutionally provided federal character principle?”
Ohanaeze’s outcry adds to growing criticism of perceived ethnic and regional imbalance in federal appointments under the Tinubu administration.
