Sunday Dare dispels regional favoritism allegations in Tinubu’s security appointments

• The south-west has five heads of security agencies while north-central is third, with four appointees.
• Three security chiefs are from the north-east, the table shows.

Sunday Dare, special adviser on public communication and orientation to President Bola Tinubu, has disputed claims that the administration favors the south-west in security agency appointments, stating “the label” doesn’t apply.

Dare shared a table on his X account listing 20 security agency heads and their regions of origin to support his claim.

This move followed backlash over Olufemi Oloyede’s appointment as acting Chief of Army Staff, which sparked accusations of favoritism towards the south-west, Tinubu’s hometown .

Oloyede’s appointment is temporary, filling in for Taoreed Lagbaja, the substantive Chief of Army Staff, who is currently indisposed.

The shared table revealed the north-west has the most security chiefs with eight positions.

The regional breakdown of security agency heads: North-West: 8 heads; South-West: 5 heads;North-Central: 4 heads; North-East*: 3 heads;South-South: 1 head; South-East: 1 head.

This distribution aims to demonstrate the administration’s balanced approach to appointments, contradicting initial concerns of regional favouritism.