Nigeria’s First Lady, Senator Oluremi Tinubu, has come under fire after listing former President Muhammadu Buhari — who died in July 2025 — among the donors to her N20.4 billion birthday fundraiser for the completion of the long-abandoned National Library project in Abuja.
A Birthday Turned Fundraiser
Earlier in September, Mrs. Tinubu announced she would dedicate her 65th birthday to mobilising funds for the National Library. She urged well-wishers to donate money instead of sending gifts, with contributions directed to a Zenith Bank account tagged “Oluremi at 65 Education Fund,” coordinated by the Federal Ministry of Education.
On September 23, during a birthday luncheon with State House correspondents, the First Lady revealed that N20,456,188,924 had been raised. She insisted that the initiative was about preserving a “national treasure that will serve generations.”
According to her, the account signatories are the Minister of Education and the Chief Librarian of the Federation, while her role was only to rally support. She stressed the account will remain open until December 2025 for further donations.
Prominent Donors Listed
Mrs. Tinubu expressed gratitude to several individuals and institutions, including President Bola Tinubu, Vice President Kashim Shettima and his wife, Senate President Godswill Akpabio, House Speaker Abbas Tajudeen, governors, legislators, security chiefs, and their spouses.
She also named billionaire businessmen such as Aliko Dangote, Abdulsamad Rabiu, Arthur Eze, Tony Elumelu, and Jim Ovia.
But eyebrows were raised when she included former President Muhammadu Buhari among contributors — despite his death in London on July 13, 2025, at the age of 82.
Outrage and Mockery
The revelation has triggered a storm of criticism on social media.
-
“He donated from heaven? Or did he carry Nigerians’ money along?” one user wrote.
-
Another quipped: “Our presidents never really leave us — not in policies, not even in donations. Abacha might be next.”
-
A third said: “This casts doubt on the credibility of the fundraiser. Nigerians deserve full disclosure of the donor list and spending plan.”
Peter Obi, Labour Party’s 2023 presidential candidate, also questioned the morality of raising funds through a birthday appeal for such a critical national project. “It is wrong for a nation like Nigeria to depend on birthday donations to complete a national institution,” he said.
Legal Action Filed
Amid the uproar, human rights lawyer Ayodele Ademiluyi has sued Mrs. Tinubu at the Federal High Court in Abuja, demanding transparency over the N20.4bn fund.
The suit (FHC/L/CS/1900/25) also joins President Bola Tinubu, the Attorney-General of the Federation, Minister of Education Tunji Alausa, National Librarian Chinwe Veronica, the National Library Board, NERDC, Zenith Bank, and the EFCC as respondents.
Ademiluyi is asking the court to compel the EFCC to probe the account and force the federal government to allocate at least 26% of the 2026 budget to education, with a significant portion going to national book development.
A Cloud Over a Noble Cause
While Mrs. Tinubu’s initiative was hailed by supporters as a bold step to revive the long-delayed National Library — first initiated in 1981 under Shehu Shagari — the Buhari controversy has cast a shadow of mistrust.
With N20bn already raised, critics argue that without transparency, what was meant to be a legacy project could become another source of public disillusionment.
