Mahdi Shehu has accused Tinubu and Customs Boss of nepotism in 2025 Recruitment Shortlist.
NewsOnline Nigeria reports that a political activist Mahdi Shehu has accused President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and the Comptroller-General of Customs of fostering nepotism and regional bias in the newly released 2025 Customs Cadet Officers shortlist.
In a post shared on X (formerly Twitter) on Saturday, Shehu claimed that the recruitment list reflected a disproportionate representation in favour of candidates from the South, particularly the South-West, to the detriment of the North.
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According to him, out of 1,785 shortlisted candidates, 1,244 were from the South, while only 541 hailed from the North, with the South-West alone accounting for about 45 percent (approximately 803 candidates).
Shehu described the alleged imbalance as “a visible political blunder” by President Tinubu, accusing him of promoting ethnic favoritism and consolidating federal influence within his region.
“The most outstanding and visible political blunder of Tinubu is that of open nepotism and foreign loan accumulation, an attitude he inherited from Buhari and even surpassed him a billion times over,” he wrote.
He went further to label the president “an Emeritus Professor of Nepotism,” alleging that Tinubu has handed control of key economic institutions and federal projects to his kinsmen from the South-West.
“It is not enough that he handed over the management of Nigeria’s entire wealth institutions to the South-West. Over 70 percent of his capital projects are also concentrated in the same region,” Shehu alleged.
The activist argued that the Customs recruitment list is evidence of “open bias and hate,” claiming that the Comptroller-General would not have approved such a list unless he was confident it aligned with the President’s expectations.
Shehu added that Northerners now feel alienated and unfairly treated under the Tinubu administration, saying many in the region “would prefer to live in a country of their own where they are not treated like beggars.”
Quoting Psalms 37:12–13, Shehu concluded his post with a warning: “The wicked make evil plans against good people… but the Lord laughs at the wicked because he sees that their day is coming.”
He said, “When tomorrow comes, even the hypocritical Northerners will look back and pray. No leader can build a nation with this level of open, deliberate, and well-crafted lopsidedness.”
