Ayodele Ademiluyi, convener of the Ife Book and Arts Festival and curator of the Books Feast Collective, has taken President Bola Tinubu, First Lady Oluremi Tinubu, and several senior officials to court over donations raised for the National Library project.
The suit, marked FHC/L/CS/1900/25, was filed on behalf of Ademiluyi and the Booksfeast Collective. Respondents include the President, the First Lady, the Attorney General of the Federation, the Minister of Education, Tunji Alausa, the Federal Ministry of Education, the National Librarian, the National Library Board, the Nigerian Educational Research and Development Council (NERDC), Zenith Bank Plc, and the EFCC.
The case stems from Oluremi Tinubu’s 65th birthday, during which she urged well-wishers to donate to an “Education Fund” instead of sending gifts. She later disclosed that the initiative had received over ₦20 billion in contributions for the completion of the abandoned National Library headquarters in Abuja.
The call attracted criticism from sections of the public, who accused the government of neglecting its responsibility to finish the long-delayed project.
Ademiluyi is seeking an order compelling the EFCC to investigate the Zenith Bank account used for the fundraiser and to make public all donations and their utilisation. He is also asking the court to direct President Tinubu to allocate at least 26 per cent of the 2026 federal budget to education, in line with UNESCO recommendations, with a significant share to go to the National Book Development Centre under the NERDC.
Ademiluyi will not be the first to comment on the matter. Earlier this week, the Labour Party’s 2023 presidential election candidate, Mr Peter Obi, slammed the Federal Government for relying on birthday gifts to complete the national library project.
While he commended the first lady, he called for the Federal Government to prioritise funding the educational sector, rather than reduce it to individual gifts.
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