Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has slammed President Bola Tinubu amid a growing scandal involving his son, Seyi Tinubu, who has been accused of abduction and assault by a factional student leader.
The controversy erupted after Atiku Isah, a factional president of the National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS), claimed he was abducted and tortured on April 15 for refusing a N100 million bribe allegedly offered by Seyi Tinubu and Minister of Youth Development, Ayodele Olawande. Isah said the bribe was meant to secure NANS’ public support for President Tinubu’s administration.
According to Isah, the attack happened shortly after he turned down the offer at a meeting in Lagos. He claimed he was stripped, assaulted, and held by thugs.
However, Seyi Tinubu denied the allegations, calling them fabricated and politically motivated. “I have never met Comrade Isah in my life, nor did I discuss any matter with him,” he wrote on Instagram, adding that the story was a deliberate smear campaign.
In defence of the President’s son, Sunday Asefon, Special Assistant to the President on Student Affairs, dismissed Isah’s claims as part of a conspiracy allegedly led by former Kaduna State Governor Nasir El-Rufai and other opposition figures. Asefon claimed Isah was living in El-Rufai’s residence and attending meetings with Atiku Abubakar, Omoyele Sowore, and Sule Lamido.
But El-Rufai, in a cryptic post on X (formerly Twitter), demanded answers: “Is there a denial by the named culprits or any response from law enforcement agencies? We must ask questions, demand answers and action.”
Isah refuted the claims, denying any alliance with El-Rufai or opposition forces. He insisted he was being targeted for refusing to betray his conscience. “I met Atiku after repeated efforts to reach him. I only saw Sowore once at a public event,” he said, stressing he remained supportive of Tinubu but would not stay silent over wrongdoing.
Meanwhile, Atiku Abubakar, through his Media Adviser, Paul Ibe, condemned what he described as an attempt by the presidency to suppress dissent. “Nigeria is not the private estate of the First Family,” he said, demanding an independent probe into the torture and abduction allegations.
Pan-Yoruba group Afenifere, however, dismissed the entire saga as “salacious and unfounded,” accusing Isah of being a puppet in a larger opposition plot to destabilise the Tinubu presidency.
As the political drama unfolds, Nigerians are calling for transparency, accountability, and protection for whistleblowers in a country where state power is often wielded without restraint.
