RIBADU JUST LEARNED THE HARDEST LESSON IN TINUBU’S APC

Nuhu Ribadu has just learned the kind of bitter political lesson many in the North keep learning the hard way under APC power politics.

Let’s not sugarcoat it. This was not just another routine appointment inside Tinubu’s government. This was a loud political message.

Ribadu has fallen.

He may still carry the title of National Security Adviser, but in Nigerian politics, title means nothing the moment real access to power starts slipping from your hands. In a presidency like Tinubu’s, power is not about what is written on paper. It is about who still has the president’s ear when doors are closed.

And right now, that power equation has changed.

Tinubu’s appointment of retired Major General Adeyinka Famadewa into the security structure was not random. It was calculated. 

In Nigerian politics, parallel appointments are rarely innocent. They are usually a silent demotion dressed up as restructuring.

That is the bitter lesson Ribadu is learning.

For nearly two years, he looked untouchable. Many saw him as the second most powerful man in the administration after Tinubu himself. He had influence, visibility, direct access, and the kind of authority many politicians spend decades chasing.

But Nigerian politics has no permanent favorites.

The moment that access begins to weaken, the fall begins instantly.

A lot of people are rushing to blame Nasir El-Rufai, especially because their political friendship has turned into open hostility. Yes, El-Rufai may enjoy seeing Ribadu humbled. Yes, their fight has become personal and bitter.

But this fall runs deeper than that.

Ribadu’s real mistake was misunderstanding the kind of politics he was playing.

He got too comfortable.

He forgot one dangerous truth about Tinubu’s APC: loyalty today does not guarantee relevance tomorrow.

Reports, statements, and controversial moments — especially that “they are our brothers” remark about Northwest bandits — only added fuel to an already growing fire. In politics, one wrong statement can become the excuse needed to redraw the power map.

But the biggest mistake was political miscalculation.

Ribadu failed to study the brutal history of the office he occupied. The NSA seat is one of the most powerful positions in Nigeria, but it is also one of the most dangerous. Many who sit there rise fast, shine briefly, and fall suddenly.

He should have moved carefully.

He should have understood that under a southern presidency like Tinubu’s, federal politics follows a pattern many northern politicians keep pretending not to see.

This is the lesson.

Northern politicians often walk into southern-led administrations believing loyalty will protect them. They expect trust to translate into lasting influence.

It rarely does.

From Obasanjo to Jonathan and now Tinubu, the pattern has remained the same. The North supports, hopes, waits… and eventually watches power shift elsewhere.

Ribadu’s fall is bigger than one man losing influence.

It is a warning.

A brutal reminder that in Tinubu’s APC, proximity to power can disappear overnight.

And for Ribadu, that lesson has come at the most painful price possible..