Tinubu’s presidency must be closely watched. At inception, it hurriedly sacked ambassadors like it had a clear foreign policy direction to salvage the country. Then for two and half years, it couldn’t nominate ambassadors, leaving the embassies rudderless. In the midst of that baffling shiftlessness, the president globetrotted unperturbed, with the all-knowing ease of a magician. Had he been asked during the campaigns, he would have bragged about his capacity to find without delay the best hands and brains to coordinate his visionary foreign policy.
Indeed a list of nominees was compiled by the presidency two years ago. In Nigeria, folks buy votes to get elected and others buy appointments from those who bought votes. But if ambassadorial positions had been hawked around by some Brother Jeros in the presidency as insinuated , the list ought to have been purged or scrapped. Instead the list was dumped and left to gather dust like it was a superfluous grocery list . Only when Donald Trump rattled the government, exposing our diplomatic vulnerability, did the presidency scramble like a frightened one- legged chicken.
Abruptly, the old questionable list resurfaced. Perhaps a dash of disinfectant was applied before the president forwarded 68 nominees to the senate .Yet among them was the late senator Adamu Talba, who had died in July 2025, months before the December submission. The nomination of a dead man should have been a profound national embarrassment requiring accountability. But the government showed no shame; no heads rolled. Once the list arrived at the senate, the rubber-stamp senate did what a rubber stamp does . Even notorious figures who had sowed ethnic division for fun and labeled the president a former drug baron faced no scrutiny as if drilling them would diminish the president who nominated them, portray him as frivolous.
Having been confirmed, the new ambassadors waited for their posting . But then another round of abracadabra ensued. When a presidency acts like a push-and-start kabukabu, it invites national suspicion and continental mockery. A month later, ahead of a state visit to Turkey, the presidency announced the posting of only four of the sixty-eight ambassadors. United States, United Kingdom, France, and Turkey. Astonishingly, the man Tinubu posted to Turkey was not on the original list of nominees he sent to the senate. The magic employed by the presidency to smuggle the man into the priority posting list needs to be studied carefully. By the next day, public outrage was uncontrollable; the presidency pleaded ‘administrative mix-up’ and hurriedly reversed the dubious appointment . Some critics wondered if the presidency relies on juju. How did it believe no one would notice? Otherwise, what mixed cocktail could have left the entire presidency so befuddled it could not vet a list of only four people? Tinubu’s presidency must be closely watched because the presidency moves like a blind man navigating unfamiliar terrain with a stick—relying on public gasps to correct course and retreat from blunders .
Some say it’s ‘compound anyhowness’ . Others say it’s not that benign. Because there is often a sinisterness beneath the appearance of casual sloppiness. The insertion of a fresh unapproved name into a high-stakes diplomatic list cannot be a clerical error. The presidency is not a roadside beer parlour with a shabby register of debtor patrons . It could be a deliberate contemptuous statement to emphasize the moribundity of the senate. However, smuggling a former governor into the list without compunction, smacks of pomposity, knavery, and impunity. This is the presidency that pardoned drug dealers and murderers in broad daylight and defended the action for days before discarding it with pinched nose like it was some stinking rotten fish when the public outcry became deafening.
Such patterns rule out benign incompetence alone. The country seems beset with a presidency struggling with deep-seated moral decay and its manifold and rampant manifestations. It explains nominating divisive bigots and clowns as ambassadors, and initially granting clemency to serious offenders like Maryam Sanda (convicted of murder) and others. If this decadence merely blurs ethical lines—treating bigotry as tolerable or overlooking conflicts of interest in trillion-naira contracts awarded without due process to buddies—it remains outrageous but perhaps forgivable. Looting and embezzlement will ruin the country but the end stage of the rot is the captured state . Once the decay starts to foster a cash-and-carry culture at the highest levels, Nigerians must stay vigilant. Better to believe all drug barons deserve redemption than allow even one to buy reprieve with illicit proceeds. A transactional presidency is a dangerous presidency.
The real question arises: Is the president truly in charge? Tinubu may not be a paragon of virtue, but the constant stream of howlers, wild pronouncements, and reversals must shift some public scrutiny towards his aides. Senator Ali Ndume once exposed how Villa gatekeepers allegedly demand bribes—even from senators—for access to the president, suggesting the administration had been “hijacked by kleptocrats.” The brazen Sanda pardon, tied to influential connections and whispers of correctional service dealings, fuels all kinds of suspicions. Take rumors with caution, but the audacity invites them. If Tinubu holds the reins, why this daily defiance of decency? Why treat avoidable embarrassments as routine rather than scandals? The presidency stumbles from one blunder to the next, only to be forced into retreats yet it shows neither concern nor remorse.
These are no ordinary mistakes. If age has dimmed the president’s sight like biblical Isaac’s in old age, then why surround himself with Esaus ready to barter the nation’s birthright and Jacobs poised to hoodwink at every turn?
Most recently, the tax reform laws passed by the National Assembly differed from the gazetted versions. Unauthorized provisions—rejected by lawmakers—were inserted between assent and publication, granting excessive coercive powers. This amounts to forgery, potentially treasonable, yet the government dismisses it as a “typographical error.” Such brazen tampering undermines democracy at its roots. Tinubu cannot be exonerated. Our people say the fish rots from the head. But if ten heads are better than one, why can’t one of his numerous advisers cover his head with a basket and scream at the emperor whenever he tries to run out in his ‘new’ clothes as he did when he cynically awarded GCON to his business partner on his birthday.
It is a toxic blend of carelessness, clumsiness, and corruption. It has clouded this presidency. The presidency must be watched—closely and relentlessly.
The post Is Tinubu’s Presidency Careless, Clumsy and Corrupt? By Ugoji Egbujo appeared first on Vanguard News.
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Tinubu’s presidency has come under scrutiny for its handling of ambassadorial appointments, leading to concerns about competence and ethical standards. Despite initially sacking ambassadors and then going years without nominations, the presidency eventually submitted a list that included a deceased nominee. The subsequent posting of ambassadors became embroiled in controversy, with last-minute changes and questionable decisions raised eyebrows across the nation.
Critics have pointed out a pattern of incompetence and ethical lapses within the administration, highlighting issues of corruption and questionable practices. The questionable behavior extends to legislative processes, such as unauthorized amendments to tax reform laws, raising concerns about the integrity of governance under Tinubu’s leadership. The presidency’s handling of diplomatic appointments and legislative matters has drawn calls for closer scrutiny and accountability.
Original Source: Vanguard News