Jerome Samson

TINUBU MUST EXPLAIN LUXURY SUV GIFTS TO APC YOUTHS WHILE NIGERIANS GO HUNGRY — ATIKU. Former Vice President and African Democratic Congress presidential candidate Atiku Abubakar has accused President Bola Tinubu of presiding over a grotesque spectacle of executive excess: the reported distribution of 2026 model luxury SUVs, each worth more than ₦150 million, to APC youth leaders while millions of Nigerians are crushed by hunger and soaring costs. Atiku said it was a brazen insult to ask Nigerians to endure hardship while party loyalists receive vehicles worth a fortune. He demanded an immediate public explanation from President Tinubu and the Presidency: who is paying for these SUVs, and why is such lavish political spending taking place while ordinary families struggle to afford food and transport? In a statement issued by Phrank Shaibu, Director of Strategic Communication of the ADC Presidential Campaign Council, Atiku said: "The APC National Youth Leader says these vehicles were donated by First Lady Oluremi Tinubu. Nigerians deserve to know where the money came from to buy and distribute so many 2026 model SUVs, each worth more than ₦150 million, for political mobilisation. "The First Lady holds no elected or executive office.She is only a domestic appendage of the office of President. Were these vehicles bought with her personal funds, donations or public resources? Who paid for them? What was the total cost? The Presidency must provide a clear account. Nigerians cannot be expected to accept a fleet of extraordinarily expensive vehicles for party loyalists without knowing who financed them. "At a time families cannot afford food, transport and other basic necessities, these gifts are a brazen insult to the people. The government has found a way to provide luxury SUVs for APC youth leaders, yet millions of Nigerians are still waiting for meaningful relief from the cost of living crisis. This is not merely a question of misplaced priorities. It is one of the most outlandish displays of executive recklessness in our history. "First, APC women leaders reportedly received luxury vehicles. Now, according to the National Youth Leader, APC youth leaders are receiving SUVs from the First Lady. The earlier gifts came on the eve of the abduction of schoolchildren in Oyo State. Now another lavish round of political giving is taking place while Nigerians face hunger, insecurity and hardship. "While Nigerians continue to ask where the savings from subsidy removal have gone, the Presidency must explain how such costly gifts are being funded. If the vehicles were paid for privately, the source of the funds should be disclosed. If public resources were used, the government must identify who authorised the spending and under what legal authority. "The scale of these gifts raises grave questions about whether our collective patrimony is being diverted to buy political loyalty. Nigeria cannot be run as a captured state, where wealth and influence serve the powerful while ordinary citizens are left to struggle. "The same youth leader who made the gifts public is reportedly travelling by private jet. That image of extraordinary privilege stands in jarring contrast to the hardship facing ordinary Nigerians. The Presidency must stop treating questions about wealth and spending as an inconvenience. Nigerians have a right to ask where the money came from. "Nor is this culture of privilege confined to party officials; it reaches the very household of the President. His own son, Mr Seyi Tinubu, has been pictured, in widely circulated images, wearing a Richard Mille RM 67-02 Sébastien Ogier, a timepiece that sells for close to half a million dollars ($500k), while the same government asks ordinary Nigerians to endure hardship, tighten their belts and wait patiently for relief that never seems to arrive.