A human rights lawyer, Ayodele Ademiluyi, has approached the Federal High Court in Abuja, asking that President Bola Tinubu’s wife, Oluremi, be directed to provide details on how donations for the National Library project will be applied.
The case lists several parties, including the President, the Minister of State for Education, Tunji Alausa; the National Librarian and Chief Executive Officer of the National Library of Nigeria, Chinwe Veronica; the governing board of the National Library; the Nigerian Educational Research Development Council; Zenith Bank Plc; and the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
Recall that on the 1st of September, 2025, Oluremi Tinubu had declared that she would mark her 65th birthday, which fell on the 21st of September by dedicating the celebration to reviving the long-abandoned National Library project.
She urged well-wishers who might ordinarily send gifts such as cakes, flowers, greeting cards, or goodwill messages in the media, to instead contribute funds into a designated bank account for the project.
According to her, the initiative is anchored by the Federal Ministry of Education through the “Oluremi at 65 Education Fund,” with the account managed by Zenith Bank Plc.
While addressing State House correspondents at a birthday luncheon on Tuesday, the 23rd of September, the First Lady disclosed that N20,456,188,924 had been secured to push forward with the completion of the library’s headquarters.
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In a statement issued the following day, Ademiluyi confirmed that he had filed a suit marked FHC/L/CS/1900/25, seeking to compel the First Lady to clarify how the money raised would be channelled into the project.
He further explained that the suit includes a request for an order of mandamus directing the EFCC to investigate the account dedicated to the library initiative.
The lawyer is also asking the court to mandate President Tinubu to “allocate at least 26 percent of the 2026 budgetary allocation to the federal ministry of education and by extension a serious percentage thereof to the National Book Development Centre of the Nigerian Educational Research Development Council.”