Hakeem Baba-Ahmed: Tinubu Is Genuinely Isolated, Detached from His Aides

Hakeem Baba-Ahmed, former Special Adviser on Political Matters to Vice-President Kashim Shettima, has said that President Bola Tinubu appears “genuinely isolated” and detached from many of his aides, including himself.

Baba-Ahmed, who resigned from his role in March, made the remarks during an interview on Arise TV’s Prime Time on Monday.

Reflecting on his time in the presidency, he said he did not feel wanted or useful within the administration.

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

He noted that he had joined the government with the hope of making a meaningful contribution but found himself without the opportunity to engage the president directly.

“I believe I had something to offer. I wasn’t appointed to sit idle and watch things go wrong. But there was no opportunity to fix them, no channel to engage the president, who holds all the power,” he said.

Despite meeting Vice-President Shettima almost daily, Baba-Ahmed said it wasn’t sufficient to influence decision-making.

“I saw the vice-president virtually every working day. We talked, we discussed the country. But Nigeria requires more than just discussions with the vice-president,” he said.

He revealed that he met President Tinubu only three times — in the mosque — and never had a formal sit-down with him.

“I honestly don’t know why. I think part of the problem is that he never really had time for people like us. I’m not sure he had time for a lot of the people working for him,” he said.

Baba-Ahmed described the president as “genuinely isolated,” either by choice or due to circumstances that remain unclear.

“The bottom line is, he ought to be available to more of the people he trusts to run ministries or advise him. And he isn’t. That’s a problem for the country, not just for him.”

He warned that if the president is not engaging with trusted advisers, he may either be getting the wrong advice — or none at all.

‘Detached from Reality’

The former spokesperson of the Northern Elders Forum (NEF) also criticized the disconnect between the presidency and everyday Nigerians.

“When you hear people close to him speak about Nigeria, it’s as if we live in two different worlds,” he said.

He recounted how he and others would leave the Villa and witness the harsh realities faced by citizens — from poverty to insecurity.

“We knew how desperate things were. People were losing hope and questioning the value of democracy. They would ask, ‘Are you really advising the president on these things?’”

Baba-Ahmed said Nigeria would benefit if President Tinubu were more open to counsel and surrounded himself with competent advisers.

“If he had a higher quality of people handling sensitive positions, made himself available to them, listened and engaged, the country would be better off,” he added.

On April 23, Baba-Ahmed released an open letter urging President Tinubu to abandon any plans for re-election.

“Step aside — not for your opponents, but for a new generation of Nigerians who can carry the nation forward with fresh energy and ideas,” he wrote.

He also recently declared that the north would unveil its position on the 2027 presidency within the next six months.

“We know nobody will become president without the north,” he stated.