Hakeem Baba-Ahmed, Tinubu’s political adviser, quits

Dr. Hakeem Baba-Ahmed, who is the former spokesman of the Northern Elders Forum (NEF), has resigned as the political adviser to President Bola Tinubu.

Sources in the presidency confirmed on Thursday that Hakeem Baba-Ahmed tendered his resignation about two weeks ago.

According to the report, Baba-Ahmed did not provide details of the reasons for his decision; he only stated that it was on personal grounds.

It was unclear whether the presidency had accepted his resignation.

Baba-Ahmed was appointed Special Adviser on Political Matters in the Office of Vice President Kashim Shettima in September 2023.

Baba-Ahmed’s role in the presidency attracted criticism at certain points, including the one from the current Minister of State for Defence, Bello Mohammed Matawalle.

Matawalle had appeared to have taken an aim at Baba-Ahmed, when he said northern appointees must not remain silent in the face of intimidation or misrepresentation of the Tinubu administration.

The comments came after Baba-Ahmed criticised Matawalle’s dismissal of the Northern Elders Forum (NEF) as a “political paperweight”.

The position taken by the minister was in reaction to the group’s statement that the North made a mistake voting for Tinubu in 2023.