The African Democratic Congress presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, has accused President Bola Tinubu’s aide, Dada Olusegun, of being dishonest over his claim that the former vice president opposes the Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND).
Atiku, through his Senior Special Assistant on Public Communication, Phrank Shaibu, said his opposition was not to providing access to education for poor Nigerians but to policies that could leave students heavily indebted.
Olusegun, the President’s Special Assistant on Social Media, had accused Atiku of opposing NELFUND and alleged that the ADC candidate did not believe children from poor families should have access to higher education.
He made the claim in a post on X on Saturday.
Olusegun wrote, “Mr @atiku hates NELFUND and wants to cancel it because he does not believe the children of the poor should have access to education.”
Responding, Shaibu dismissed the allegation as dishonest, arguing that Atiku’s position was centred on making education affordable rather than forcing students to rely on loans after tuition fees had been increased.
“@DOlusegun, this is simply dishonest. Atiku does not oppose education for poor children. He opposes turning education into a debt trap after the government first allowed fees to skyrocket,” Shaibu said.
He illustrated the issue with the example of a struggling parent who might be forced to borrow money to pay university fees after government policies had made education unaffordable.
“Imagine a widow selling food by the roadside to send her daughter to university. The government raises the fees beyond what she can afford, then tells the daughter to borrow the money and begin adult life in debt,” he added.
Shaibu maintained that Atiku’s preferred approach was to make education more affordable through scholarships and grants, rather than relying primarily on student loans.
According to him, the former vice president believes poor children should not only gain admission into tertiary institutions but should also be able to complete their studies without carrying a substantial debt burden.
“Atiku’s position is clear: make education affordable again, restore scholarships and grants, and ensure that a child’s future does not begin with a loan burden,” Shaibu said.
He added, “The child of nobody should not only enter school, that child should be able to graduate without being buried in debt.”
The exchange comes amid a war of words between Atiku and officials of the Tinubu administration over the former vice president’s economic policies ahead of the 2027 presidential election.
Atiku has also recently clashed with Tinubu’s Senior Adviser on Digital/New Media, O’tega Ogra, over his proposal for a production subsidy for locally refined petroleum products.
While Ogra argued that a similar arrangement had been used during the Obasanjo administration when Atiku was vice president, Atiku rejected the comparison, saying the proposal being presented by him was different from the old crude allocation arrangement.
Through Shaibu, Atiku accused Ogra of attaching figures and assumptions to his proposal and subsequently presenting them as though they originated from him.
He described Ogra’s purported calculation of a N21.9tn annual cost as “political fan fiction with a calculator”, insisting that his proposed subsidy would be tied specifically to fuel actually refined in Nigeria, capped, appropriated and monitored against abuse.
Atiku argued that the policy would exclude subsidies for imported fuel and was intended to increase domestic refining, create jobs and reduce the cost of energy for Nigerians.
The former vice president also took a swipe at Ogra over his absence from the recently constituted APC Presidential Campaign Council, describing the presidential aide as an “APC’s self-appointed attack squad” seeking relevance.
Atiku said Ogra’s exclusion from the campaign structure was an indication of the value the ruling party placed on him.
