Hakeem Baba-Ahmed : Why I turned down meeting with Tinubu, he should step aside

Hakeem Baba-Ahmed, former Special Adviser on Political Matters in the office of Vice President Kashim Shettima, has opened up on why he turned down a personal meeting with President Bola Tinubu following his resignation.

He said he feared that his advice would not be welcomed. “I would have told him things he might not want to hear—including advising him not to run for a second term in 2027,” Baba-Ahmed said during his appearance on Channels Television’s Politics Today on Thursday.

He urged Tinubu to step aside and support a younger, more energetic candidate from within the ruling party in the next presidential election.

Baba-Ahmed, who was appointed to the role in 2023, stepped down is position in April, ruled out the possibility of working again with President Bola Tinubu’s administration.

He said his resignation stemmed from what he described as the government’s lack of determination to address Nigeria’s challenges.

“I don’t regret going in,” he said. “I got out because there was no space. I didn’t see that fire, that commitment, zeal to fix the country that has been wrecked. I saw instead a country that is just getting worse.”

When asked whether he would accept a similar role if offered again, Baba-Ahmed replied, “The way the Tinubu government is going—no.”

He argued that the administration had failed to demonstrate the will to bring meaningful change, particularly in tackling poverty and insecurity in northern Nigeria, issues he claimed had deepened under Tinubu’s leadership.

Reflecting on his brief stint in government, Baba-Ahmed acknowledged that he was unable to fulfill the responsibilities of his advisory role. “No, I didn’t do any job. I was supposed to be adviser on political matters to the President in the office of the Vice President, but I didn’t do any advising,” he admitted.

On the expectations of northern Nigerians, he said the region’s priority was for Tinubu to address longstanding issues such as insecurity, poverty, unemployment, and drug abuse.

“The North simply wants the President to fix Northern problems,” Baba-Ahmed concluded.