Tinubu, Atiku Trade Insults Over Yola Private Varsity: Where Did You Get Money To Build University? When You Were Returning $460,000 To US For Drugs I Laid Its Foundation
Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, Presidential Candidate of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), has sent a caustic response after President Bola Ahmed Tinubu attacked the Adamawa politician’s investment in the American University of Nigeria in Yola, Adamawa State.
Speaking during the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) presidential rally held at the Adokiye Amiesimaka Stadium in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, on Saturday, the President accused Atiku of using state resources for his personal advantage
Established by Atiku, the American University of Nigeria is a private university in Yola the capital of Adamawa, Nigeria.
Responding to opposition criticism over the rising cost of living, Tinubu argued that some of those blaming his administration for economic hardship had contributed to the problems it inherited.
He said: “Those people talking of hunger, I am cleaning the mess they created. Atiku was one of them. Ask him how he built a university while in office as Vice President in charge of our economy. Who built the university for him? It is your money! It’s your effort!”
Rather, Tinubu defended his administration’s economic policies, saying 27 of Nigeria’s 36 states had been unable to pay salaries when he took office and that his government had since improved the situation.
Tinubu blamed the widespread hunger in the land on Atiku Abubakar, his African Democratic Congress (ADC) rival in next year’s election, and some of the persons who previously ran government.
However, Atiku described the corruption insinuations by Tinubu as a desperate attempt to distract Nigerians from the failure of the President’s administration.
In a statement issued by the Director of Strategic Communication, Phrank Shaibu, Atiku said: “Again, Bola Tinubu has told Nigerians why they should not allow him to continue as President after his first tenure. He also chose to question my investment in education and ask how I built an educational institution while serving as Vice President.
“The answer is simple: My investment in education predates my time in public service. In 1993, while a U.S. court ordered the forfeiture of funds ($460,000) in an account in your name, describing them as proceeds of narcotics trafficking or funds involved in unlawful financial transactions, I was laying the foundation for ABTI Academy. That Academy has since grown into the American University of Nigeria.
“That moment captures the difference between us. My history is traceable. I can show Nigerians how I built my name, achieved success in business and entered public leadership. Your own history remains clumsy and foggy. You cannot erase it by attacking my record in education.
“A President who has plunged the country into a crushing cost-of-living crisis has no business asking Nigerians for another mandate. The real conversation about the 2027 election is how to repair the damage your government has done.
“You say Nigeria cannot return to subsidy and must move forward. But you cannot even tell Nigerians where you are taking them: Forward into deeper poverty, mounting debt, insecurity and mass unemployment?
“Since your inauguration in 2023, your leadership has become synonymous with hardship, pain and despair. Your record is a working example of how a country should not be led. You have created poverty on an industrial scale, pushing more than 79 million Nigerians into extreme poverty.
“Your campaign’s Director-General says hungry Nigerians are simply lazy. He delivered that statement in grammar so badly constructed it could wake the dead. This government does not even believe Nigerians are hungry. How can you solve a problem you refuse to acknowledge?”
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Ghanaian Singer Efya, 6 Years After Vowing Never To Marry, Weds Nigerian Singer Tómi Thomas
Ghanaian Singer Efya has married Nigerian musician Tómi Thomas in a traditional ceremony in Accra, six years after publicly saying she would never get married.
The 39-year-old Singer and her 33-year-old partner tied the knot on Friday, November 6, 2026, surrounded by family, friends and prominent figures from Ghana’s entertainment industry.
Among those who attended were Minister for Tourism, Culture and Creative Arts Abla Dzifa Gomashie, Sister Derby, Fella Makafui, Hajia4Reall, Efia Odo and Kafui Danku.
The couple’s journey towards marriage became public in February 2026 when their families held a knocking ceremony on Valentine’s Day.
Their management later clarified that the ceremony was not the completion of their traditional marriage rites.
