The factional President of the National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS), Atiku Isah, has retracted a series of allegations against President Bola Tinubu’s son, Seyi Tinubu, describing them as untrue and orchestrated.
This follows Isah’s earlier claims that Seyi Tinubu, alongside the Minister of Youth Development, Ayodele Olawande, offered him a bribe of N100 million in Lagos to promote the President – an allegation that Seyi Tinubu has vehemently denied.
The controversy began when the students’ leader accused the President’s son of attempting to bribe him. Isah claimed that he rejected the offer, insisting he could not support a President who had failed to fulfil his electoral promises. He also alleged he was abducted, stripped naked, and assaulted on April 15.
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In a statement posted on his Facebook page on Wednesday, which he titled “Setting the Records Straight/Public Apology to Seyi Tinubu”, Isah admitted that his earlier claims, including the N100 million bribe offer, abduction, assault, and forced recantation, were based on misleading information from NANS President Olusola Ladoja. Isah alleged that Ladoja, his rival, had deliberately fed him falsehoods in an effort to manipulate him for his own agenda.
Isah said, “In the video, I also claimed that, for what they considered my stubbornness in rejecting their N100 million offer, I was on April 15, 2025, abducted, stripped naked, and beaten. In collaboration with the MD of the Nigerian Television Authority (NTA), I was allegedly taken to their station where a statement, purportedly renouncing my position as NANS President, was extracted under duress.
“It has now become clear that the offer of N100 million, which I was led to believe was made to me to support President Tinubu, was entirely false. Ladoja Olusola, who was desperate to remove me from my rightful position as the duly elected President of NANS, misled me with lies and half-truths to further his selfish agenda of taking control of the student body through deceit.”
Isah further revealed that it was Ladoja who had warned him privately that Seyi Tinubu could have him killed and then instruct the police to bury the case. He also mentioned allegations that Tinubu’s supporters had planned to disrupt his inauguration.
“It was also Ladoja Olusola who warned me that Seyi Tinubu could order my killing and instruct the Inspector General of Police, Mr Kayode Egbetokun, to bury the matter,” Isah added.
Isah also admitted that his accusation that Seyi Tinubu led a group of thugs to the venue of his inauguration was false.
“I made these claims based on the picture of Seyi Tinubu that Ladoja Olusola had painted for me. He insisted that Seyi was doing everything in his power to ensure that I would not survive to serve my term as NANS President,” Isah said. “However, I later discovered that Mr Seyi Tinubu was not even near the venue of my inauguration.”
