Ttakeholders of the All Progressives Congress from the North-East have appealed to Vice President Kashim Shettima and the National Security Adviser, Nuhu Ribadu, to intervene in securing the vacant ministerial slot for the region.
The call came on Monday when a delegation of the APC Youth Stakeholders Forum, led by its Executive Secretary, Abdulkareem Jimeta, visited the APC National Secretariat in Abuja.
The group is pushing for the appointment of Haruna Sardauna, former coordinator of the Tinubu-Shettima Campaign Organisation, to replace Nentawe Yilwatda, who vacated the position of Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Disaster Management after emerging as APC’s National Chairman.
Jimeta stressed that Shettima and Ribadu, as leading political figures from the North-East, must step in to address what he described as an “imbalance” in federal appointments.
“This is a wake-up call to Vice President Kashim Shettima and the NSA, Mallam Nuhu Ribadu, as our leaders from the North-East, to intervene and facilitate the appointment of Haruna Sardauna and other North-East youth to benefit from Tinubu’s presidential appointment,” Jimeta said.
He lamented that while Kano State alone has 27 youth presidential appointees, the entire six states of the North-East—Borno, Yobe, Bauchi, Adamawa, Taraba, and Gombe—have a combined figure of just eight.
“The North-West region has benefited and is enjoying about 71% of presidential youth appointments in the North. The North-Central region has 21%. Sadly, the North-East region benefits only 8%,” he said.
The stakeholders argued that appointing Sardauna would help redress the imbalance and strengthen the APC’s grassroots base ahead of the 2027 elections.
According to Jimeta, Sardauna has been “a prominent youth figure in northern Nigerian politics, known for his skills in grassroots political mobilisation and humanitarian nature,” recalling his loyalty to President Bola Tinubu since 2016 as Deputy National Chairman of the Tinubu Youth Ambassadors, and his current role as Director-General of the Renewed Hope Youth Ambassadors.
They also linked their demand to the peculiar humanitarian challenges facing the region, which has suffered heavily from the Boko Haram insurgency.
“His appointment would be a crucial step towards providing the necessary humanitarian support and resources to address the plight of IDPs, widows, orphans, and Persons With Disabilities,” the Forum said.
The campaign for Sardauna’s appointment has also drawn support from other Arewa youth groups, which endorsed him alongside Hon. Nasir Ja’oji from the North-West for broader youth inclusion in Tinubu’s cabinet.
With his background in Public Administration and as a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Public Administration and Governance, the Forum maintained that Sardauna is well-positioned to craft policies tailored to the region’s recovery.
“Ultimately, the appointment of Haruna Sardauna as the Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Disaster Management would be a significant step towards addressing the humanitarian challenges in the Northeast region and promoting recovery and development,” Jimeta stated.
