By Jelili Gbadamosi
Atiku Abubakar, Former Vice President and African Democratic Congress, ADC, presidential candidate, has rejected claims that he is opposed to providing educational opportunities for children from poor families.
Atiku, through his Senior Special Assistant on Public Communication, Phrank Shaibu, said his opposition was not to education financing but to policies that force students into debt after tuition fees have been increased beyond the reach of many families.
Shaibu stated this in a post on X on Saturday while responding to President Bola Tinubu’s Special Assistant on Social Media, Dada Olusegun.
Dada had accused Atiku of opposing the National Education Loan Fund, NELFUND, and seeking its cancellation because he allegedly did not believe children from poor backgrounds should have access to education.
Reacting, Shaibu described the claim as dishonest, insisting that Atiku’s position was to make tertiary education affordable rather than compel students to depend on loans.
He said, “Atiku does not oppose education for poor children. He opposes turning education into a debt trap after the government first allowed fees to skyrocket.”
According to him, the impact of rising tuition fees is particularly severe on poor families, including widows and low-income parents struggling to keep their children in school.
Shaibu said Atiku would rather see the government reduce the cost of education and restore scholarship and grant programmes than leave students with loan burdens after graduation.
He added that Atiku wants children from poor families not only to gain admission into tertiary institutions but also to complete their education without being overwhelmed by debt.
“The child of nobody should not only enter school, that child should be able to graduate without being buried in debt,” Shaibu added.
