BREAKING: Ex-Presidential Aide Baba-Ahmed Says Tinubu Is ‘Genuinely Isolated’ from His Appointees

Hakeem Baba-Ahmed, former Special Adviser on Political Matters to Vice-President Kashim Shettima, has revealed that he resigned from his position in March because he felt underutilised and unwanted by the administration of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.

Speaking on ARISE News on Monday, Baba-Ahmed said he might have remained in office longer if the role had been more about personal gain. However, he believed his potential contributions to the administration and the country were not being maximised.

“If it was all about me, quite possibly I would have stayed longer. But I felt I could have been a lot more useful to the country and to the administration,” he said.

Baba-Ahmed, who previously served as spokesperson for the Northern Elders Forum (NEF), lamented the lack of access to the president and the seeming inability to influence key decisions. Despite meeting frequently with Vice-President Shettima, he said real governance demanded more than conversations with the number two man.

“I think I met him (President Tinubu), I saw him three times in the mosque in the villa and we shook hands. But I never had a chance to sit down with President Tinubu,” he noted.

Describing the president as “genuinely isolated,” Baba-Ahmed said Tinubu appeared cut off from his appointees, suggesting that either the president had chosen to be unavailable or was being shielded from his aides.

“The president really is genuinely isolated, whether it’s by choice or by circumstances we don’t understand,” he said. “He ought to be available to a lot more of the people that he has trusted… And he isn’t. And that’s a problem for the country.”

Baba-Ahmed also criticised the quality of advice surrounding the president and the perceived detachment of the inner circle from the country’s pressing issues. He said the contrast between Villa life and the harsh realities of Nigerians was disturbing.

“When you hear people close to him speak about Nigeria, it’s as if we live in two different worlds,” he remarked. “We knew how desperate the country is… People were losing hope.”

In a recent open letter dated April 23, Baba-Ahmed called on President Tinubu to shelve any re-election plans for 2027, urging him to “step aside… for a new generation of Nigerians.”

He has also stated that the North would declare its position on the 2027 presidency within the next six months, asserting, “We know nobody will become president without the North.”