NANS presidential candidate alleges Seyi Tinubu held secret meeting to influence election for Yoruba candidate

SAHARA REPORTERS

Batuta, who raised the alarm in a statement issued and made available to journalists on Tuesday, alleged that the meeting is a clear attempt to manipulate the leadership transition process of NANS in favour of Seyi’s choice candidate for the presidential election.

Comrade Jubril Batuta, a presidential candidate of the National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) from the University of Abuja (UNIABUJA), has raised an alarm that President Bola Tinubu’s son, Seyi Tinubu, is allegedly holding a secret stakeholder meeting of the union in Abuja.

Batuta, who raised the alarm in a statement issued and made available to journalists on Tuesday, alleged that the meeting is a clear attempt to manipulate the leadership transition process of NANS in favour of Seyi’s choice candidate for the presidential election.

He urged President Tinubu to immediately caution his son, Seyi, and compel him to desist from interfering in the affairs of NANS.

Batuta said, “It has come to our attention with unmitigated disappointment that a clandestine stakeholders’ meeting of the National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) is being convened at an undisclosed location in Abuja at the instance of Mr. Seyi Tinubu, the son of the President.

“This meeting, shrouded in secrecy, is a clear attempt to manipulate the leadership transition process of NANS in favour of a predetermined candidate.

“Recall that Mr. Seyi Tinubu single-handedly spent over a billion Naira during the last transition process and handpicked the current national executives of NANS, ensuring that the leadership remained within the Yoruba ethnic group.”

According to him, “Now that the tenure is supposed to rotate to another zone, credible findings indicate that he is already plotting to impose another Yoruba successor from neighbouring Oyo State, thereby perpetuating a pattern of ‘Yorubanisation’ in NANS against the principle of geopolitical zoning enshrined in the constitution”.

“Mr Seyi Tinubu should wait for the turn of Zone D (South West) if he must impose leadership,” he said.

“This calculated attempt to hijack the sacred institution of Nigerian students for personal, ethnic and political gains is unacceptable and will be vehemently resisted by well-meaning Nigerian students.”

Batuta noted that NANS is a national body that represents the interests of students across all ethnic groups and regions of Nigeria, and it must remain a symbol of unity and inclusiveness.

He said, “We unequivocally demand that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu should immediately call his son, Seyi Tinubu, to order and compel him to desist from interfering in the affairs of NANS.

“It’s the turn of the North-Central geopolitical zone to produce the next NANS President, after which it’ll be the turn of the South West, which is predominantly Yoruba.

“Nigerian students will not tolerate this brazen disregard for the principles of fairness, equity, and justice that the association is expected to stand for.

“We call on all Nigerian students, civil society organisations, and well-meaning Nigerians to rise against this assault on the independence of NANS.”

Batuta warned that the future of millions of students across the country must not be sacrificed on the altar of nepotism and ethnic favouritism.

“NANS belongs to all Nigerian students, irrespective of tribe, religion, or region,” he said.

“We demand respect for the leadership transition process, and we will not hesitate to mobilise against President Tinubu or any individual or group attempting to subvert the collective will of Nigerian students.”