The Senior Special Assistant on Public Communications to former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, Phrank Shaibu, has criticised the Presidency over what he described as recurring administrative blunders and a lack of basic governance competence.
Shaibu was reacting to the brief announcement and subsequent withdrawal of Usman Dakingari’s appointment as Nigeria’s ambassador to Turkey, an action he said was carried out without any official explanation.
In a post on X on Saturday, Shaibu noted that Dakingari was publicly announced as an ambassador, only for the Presidency to retract the announcement minutes later, creating confusion and uncertainty.
He described the development as the 11th public reversal by the current administration, arguing that such repeated actions undermine public confidence and show disrespect for state institutions.
According to him, the incident reflects a broader pattern of carelessness in official decision-making, recalling previous occasions where deceased individuals were reportedly announced for appointments, while living appointees were later embarrassed by sudden reversals.
Shaibu accused the Presidency of being more focused on former Vice President Atiku Abubakar and Labour Party presidential candidate Peter Obi than on the task of effective governance.
“A government that cannot keep track of its own announcements cannot be trusted to run a country,” he said.
He further criticised what he called the casual handling of official communication, stressing that governance should not be treated like a social media post that can be deleted without accountability.
“Governance is not a WhatsApp broadcast that can simply be deleted. Serious governments explain themselves,” Shaibu wrote.
He urged the Presidency to uphold higher administrative standards by verifying decisions before making them public and by providing clear explanations whenever errors occur.
“Serious governments double-check before announcing appointments. Serious governments do not wake up to appoint the dead, embarrass living appointees, and then pretend nothing happened,” he added.
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