Lawyer Sues Remi Tinubu Over N20.4Bn National Library Donation

ByEditor

Sep 24, 2025 #National Library Donation, #Remi Tinubu’s Birthday, #Remi Tinubu’s Birthday Donation

Mental Health, well-being - Senator Oluremi Tinubu

The First Lady, H.E. Senator Oluremi Tinubu

A human rights lawyer, Ayodele Ademiluyi, has dragged First Lady, Oluremi Tinubu, before the federal high court in Abuja, seeking full disclosure on how the N20,456,188,924 she announced as funds raised for the National Library project will be utilised.

The suit, marked FHC/L/CS/1900/25, also joins President Bola Tinubu, the attorney-general of the federation, the minister of education, Tunji Alausa, national librarian Chinwe Veronica, the National Library of Nigeria Board, the Nigerian Educational Research Development Council, Zenith Bank Plc, and the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) as respondents.

On September 1, Oluremi Tinubu declared that she would dedicate her 65th birthday, marked on September 21, to the completion of the long-stalled National Library project.

She appealed to friends and supporters “who may wish to send cards, cakes, flowers, newspaper messages or other presents” to instead channel funds into a Zenith Bank account designated under the “Oluremi at 65 Education Fund,” coordinated by the federal ministry of education.

At a lunch with State House correspondents to mark her birthday, she disclosed, “N20,456,188,924 has been raised for the completion of the project.”

But the initiative has triggered sharp reactions.

Peter Obi, the Labour Party’s 2023 presidential candidate, criticised the approach, saying “it is wrong for a nation like Nigeria to depend on birthday donations to complete a critical national institution.”

Ademiluyi insists the matter goes beyond optics. In a statement on Wednesday, he said the suit seeks “an order of mandamus compelling the EFCC to probe the account being used for the project.”

He added that the action also seeks an order compelling President Bola Tinubu to “allocate at least 26 percent of the 2026 budgetary allocation to the federal ministry of education and by extension a serious percentage thereof to the National Book Development Centre of the Nigerian Educational Research Development Council.”