Tinubu ditches Federal Character principle again, appoints Ogunjimi as Accountant General of the Federation (AGF)
In what has seemingly become a pattern of appointing only persons of the Yoruba ethnic group, especially Lagos, into high-profile finance/revenue administration section of his government, President Bola Tinubu Tuesday – yesterday, March 4 – appointed Shamsedeen Ogunjimi, a 57-year old accountant from Lagos State, as the new Accountant General of the Federation.
The appointment was made “after a rigorous selection process,” according to presidential spokesman Bayo Onanuga, who made the announcement.
Ogunjimi’s appointment came as criticisms mounted that President Tinubu, in utter disregard of the nation’s Federal Character Principle, has all but handed over the fiscal, monetary and revenue aspects of the federal administration to the Yoruba ethnic group, in a country of more than 350 ethnic groups each with enough qualified manpower to participate effectively in an otherwise inclusive federal government.
Ogunjimi was appointed as a replacement for Oluwatoyin Madehin, and will resume on March 7, 2025, the same day the incumbent Madehin will retire.
The new AGF was first named as Madehin’s successor last December.
Critics accuse the government of dishonesty in the handling of Ogunjimi’s appointment, arguing that it sounds disingenuous for the government to name a successor to a retiring public officer and later set up a selection committee to choose that same successor “through a competitive, rigorous, and merit-based process involving Directors of Accounts in the Federal Civil Service.”
According to Mr. Onanuga, “the committee conducted the process through three stages: a written assessment, an ICT proficiency test, and oral interviews.”
A Lagos-based financial expert, who is conversant with such high-profile government selection processes, slammed the presidency for what he called “the hypocrisy of it all.”
“If they wanted the selection process to be as rigorous and transparent as they claimed the processes leading to Ogunjimi’s appointment were, they should never have named him as Mr. Madehin’s successor in the first place,” he argued.
“They should have waited until after the selection process to name the new Accountant General of the Federation.”
“They could have even gone a little further to demonstrate the transparency of the whole process by announcing the AGF vacancy for the best to apply from any part of the country or the world, provided they are Nigerians,” the financial expert who didn’t want his name in print added.
“Are they telling us that after a new Accountant General, a Yoruba for that matter, had been named by the presidency, a selection committee in this Tinubu Administration would later disqualify the candidate?
“My worry is that those who think for this administration are either not rigorous enough or simply take Nigerians for granted, even as a bunch foolish, unintelligent people who cannot see through the shenanigans that have come to define public administration under Tinubu.”
He further argued that, the injection of “competitive, rigorous, and merit-based process” into the mix was “a smokescreen” aimed at preempting any controversy that might arise as a result of the appointment of yet another Yoruba to such a high-profile financial management position in Tinubu’s federal government, already with dozens of strategic, commanding-heights-of-the economy appointments heavily skewed in favour of the Yoruba.
The financial experts cited the CBN, Finance Ministry, FIRS, Customs, Immigrations, NIMASA, Marine/Blue economy, Solid Minerals and Oil Ministries, among others, as examples of finance/revenue centres of Nigeria already in the hands of people of the same ethnic group as Ogunjimi, whose appointment would appear to have completed the near absolute capture of the nation’s financial/revenue sector by people of the same ethnic group.
According to Onanuga, Ogunjimi’s appointment “underscored President Tinubu’s commitment to promoting transparency, excellence, and competence in key public service positions.”
The new AGF graduated from the University of Nigeria, Nsukka (UNN), in 1990 with a Bachelor of Science in Accountancy.
He also obtained a Master’s in Accounting and Finance from the University of Lagos.
He is a fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria and the Chartered Institute of Taxation of Nigeria.
Onanuga quoted President Tinubu as congratulating Ogunjimi on his appointment and urging him to discharge his duties in the service of Nigeria with integrity, professionalism, and dedication to Nigeria’s service.”
