The camp of former vice president Atiku Abubakar has questioned President Bola Tinubu’s account of working as a taxi driver in the United States to finance his university education.
Paul Ibe, a media adviser to the African Democratic Congress (ADC) presidential candidate, said Tinubu’s account had raised questions about the type of visa he held while studying in the US and whether he was authorised to undertake the jobs he claimed to have performed.
Ibe made the remarks in a post on X on Thursday, following Tinubu’s revelation that he drove a taxi and took up other jobs to pay his educational and living expenses while studying in Chicago.
He questioned whether Tinubu entered the US on an F-1 student visa, which generally requires specific authorisation for off-campus employment.
He also demanded clarification on when Tinubu worked as a taxi driver and whether he was legally permitted to do so under his immigration status.
“These are legitimate questions arising from the President’s own account,” Ibe said, adding that Tinubu’s immigration and employment history should be subjected to public scrutiny.
He further referenced the controversies surrounding Tinubu’s years in Chicago, including allegations of links to heroin trafficking, over which he forfeited $460,000 in the US.
Ibe urged the President to provide verifiable explanations about his immigration status, employment history and how he financed his education in the United States.
“Nigerians deserve verifiable answers, not another instalment of an endlessly changing Chicago story that has all the trappings of ‘Oluwole’ written all over it,” he added.
Tinubu had, in a post on his X handle on Wednesday, recalled how he postponed starting university for several months to save money before relocating to Chicago.
The President said he took up different jobs, including driving a taxi, to meet his educational and living expenses while studying in the US.
“When I first arrived in the United States as a young man, I drove a taxi to earn money for my education. I even had to postpone starting school for several months to save enough,” he said.
“When I eventually got to Chicago, I worked different jobs to support myself and pay my way through university. I know what it means to worry about tuition, accommodation and how to make ends meet while pursuing an education.”
Tinubu said the experience had given him a personal understanding of the financial challenges students face, stressing that every Nigerian child deserved equal educational opportunities regardless of family background or financial circumstances.
Highlighting his administration’s education reforms, the President said over N372 billion had been provided in student loans through the Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND) to cover institutional fees and students’ upkeep.
He also disclosed that the government’s technical and vocational education programme had received more than 2.8 million applications, while 38 technical colleges had been rehabilitated.
According to him, students in federal and selected state technical colleges now enjoy free tuition, boarding, textbooks and uniforms.
On university education, Tinubu said his administration had reached a new agreement with the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), providing for a 40 per cent increase in academic staff remuneration and measures to improve stability in the university system.
He added that the government was committed to ensuring that students completed their academic programmes within the stipulated periods.
“A four-year course must take four years. Our young people deserve to complete their education on time and get on with their lives,” the President said.
