Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has demanded that President Bola Tinubu publicly explain the reported distribution of luxury SUVs, worth over N150 million each, to All Progressives Congress (APC) youth leaders, as millions of Nigerians struggle with hunger and rising costs.
Mr Abubakar, the African Democratic Congress (ADC) presidential candidate, described the reported gifts as a “brazen insult” to Nigerians and a “grotesque spectacle of executive excess.”
The APC National Youth Leader, Dayo Israel, posted the video on his X account on Sunday, saying the vehicles were intended to support the mobilisation activities of the beneficiaries ahead of the 2027 general elections.
“Today, I presented a brand-new 2026 Prado to my committed selected youth leaders to aid their election mobilisation activities,” he wrote.
He also expressed gratitude to First Lady Oluremi Tinubu for her “continuous support to the party structure” under his leadership.
“The party is supreme, and that supremacy will show in our actions in this election period – we will deliver polling unit by polling unit,” he added.
The video, which has since been deleted, drew criticism from Nigerians on social media, with some questioning the timing of the vehicle distribution amid the economic hardship associated with the Tinubu administration’s reforms.
In a statement issued on Monday by Phrank Shaibu, Director of Strategic Communication of the ADC Presidential Campaign Council, Mr Abubakar asked the Presidency to disclose who paid for the vehicles, the total cost, and under what authority they were procured and distributed.
“The APC National Youth Leader says these vehicles were donated by First Lady Oluremi Tinubu. Nigerians deserve to know where the money came from to buy and distribute so many 2026 model SUVs, each worth more than N150 million, for political mobilisation,” Mr Abubakar said.
He said the First Lady holds no elected or executive office. She is only a domestic appendage of the office of the President.
“Were these vehicles bought with her personal funds, donations or public resources? Who paid for them? What was the total cost? The Presidency must provide a clear account. Nigerians cannot be expected to accept a fleet of extraordinarily expensive vehicles for party loyalists without knowing who financed them.”
Mr Abubakar said the timing of the gifts made them particularly offensive.
“At a time families cannot afford food, transport and other basic necessities, these gifts are a brazen insult to the people. The government has found a way to provide luxury SUVs for APC youth leaders, yet millions of Nigerians are still waiting for meaningful relief from the cost of living crisis. This is not merely a question of misplaced priorities. It is one of the most outlandish displays of executive recklessness in our history,” he said.
He noted that the reported SUV distribution to youth leaders followed an earlier round in which APC women leaders reportedly received luxury vehicles.
“First, APC women leaders reportedly received luxury vehicles. Now, according to the National Youth Leader, APC youth leaders are receiving SUVs from the First Lady. The earlier gifts came on the eve of the abduction of schoolchildren in Oyo State. Now another lavish round of political giving is taking place while Nigerians face hunger, insecurity and hardship,” he added.
Mr Abubakar linked the controversy to the government’s handling of fuel subsidy savings, arguing that Nigerians have yet to see the benefits of the removal.
“While Nigerians continue to ask where the savings from subsidy removal have gone, the Presidency must explain how such costly gifts are being funded. If the vehicles were paid for privately, the source of the funds should be disclosed. If public resources were used, the government must identify who authorised the spending and under what legal authority.
“The scale of these gifts raises grave questions about whether our collective patrimony is being diverted to buy political loyalty. Nigeria cannot be run as a captured state, where wealth and influence serve the powerful while ordinary citizens are left to struggle.”
Mr Abubakar also criticised the reported lifestyle of the APC youth leader, who he said was reportedly travelling by private jet, describing it as an image of “extraordinary privilege” in contrast to the hardship facing ordinary Nigerians.
“The Presidency must stop treating questions about wealth and spending as an inconvenience. Nigerians have a right to ask where the money came from,” he said.
Mr Abubakar extended the criticism to the President’s family, pointing to widely circulated images of the President’s son, Seyi Tinubu, wearing a Richard Mille RM 67-02 Sébastien Ogier wristwatch said to sell for close to $500,000.
“Nor is this culture of privilege confined to party officials; it reaches the very household of the President. His own son, Mr Seyi Tinubu, has been pictured, in widely circulated images, wearing a Richard Mille RM 67-02 Sébastien Ogier, a timepiece that sells for close to half a million dollars ($500k), while the same government asks ordinary Nigerians to endure hardship, tighten their belts and wait patiently for relief that never seems to arrive,” he stated.
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He said a worker on the national minimum wage would need several lifetimes to earn what the President’s son wears on one wrist.
“When the household of the President and the youth leader of his party flaunt such wealth in a season of hunger, insecurity and joblessness, they are not merely displaying poor taste; they are telling Nigerians, in the plainest possible terms, how little their suffering registers in the corridors of power”
“Why is Bola inflicting such pain on Nigerians while those closest to his government enjoy such lavish privilege? Nigerians need answers, not another display of wealth for political mobilisation,” Mr Abubakar said.
Mr Abubakar promised that if elected president, he would investigate any illegal spending.
“When I am sworn in as President, every naira found to have been spent illegally will be thoroughly investigated, and everyone found culpable will be brought to justice.
“Tinubu made life difficult. I will make life affordable again,” he said.
