{"id":239323,"date":"2026-01-14T15:32:45","date_gmt":"2026-01-14T15:32:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/abiaradiostations.com.ng\/news\/yoruba-group-accuses-tinubu-of-wasting-millions-abroad-while-nigerians-die\/"},"modified":"2026-01-14T15:32:45","modified_gmt":"2026-01-14T15:32:45","slug":"yoruba-group-accuses-tinubu-of-wasting-millions-abroad-while-nigerians-die","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/abiaradiostations.com.ng\/news\/yoruba-group-accuses-tinubu-of-wasting-millions-abroad-while-nigerians-die\/","title":{"rendered":"Yoruba Group Accuses Tinubu of Wasting Millions Abroad While Nigerians Die"},"content":{"rendered":"

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President Bola Ahmed Tinubu <\/a>is facing a fresh criticism from his home region as a prominent pan-Yoruba socio-political organization, \u00ccgb\u00ecnm\u00f3 M\u00e1j\u00e9k\u00f3b\u00e1j\u00e9 Il\u00e9-Yor\u00f9b\u00e1, has condemned the federal government\u2019s decision to commit $9 million to a United States-based lobbying firm. <\/p>\n

The group described the expenditure as a \u201creckless\u201d waste of national resources at a time when Nigerians are grappling with unprecedented levels of killings, kidnappings, and economic hardship.<\/p>\n

Abia Radio News earlier reported that the Nigerian government, through the Office of the National Security Adviser (NSA), Nuhu Ribadu, engaged the DCI Group, a Republican-linked firm in Washington. <\/p>\n

The contract, reportedly facilitated by a Kaduna-based law firm, Aster Legal, aims to manage the administration\u2019s image in the U.S. and persuade the government of President Donald Trump that Nigeria is effectively protecting Christian communities and fighting jihadist elements.<\/p>\n

In a strongly-worded statement signed by its Convener, Olusola Badero, and released through Home Director Princess Balogun, the Yoruba group alleged that the administration is more focused on \u201cforeign image laundering\u201d and \u201csecond-term political calculations\u201d than the safety of its citizens.<\/p>\n

The group argued that the $9 million which is equivalent to roughly $750,000 per month could have been better utilized to equip security agencies or rebuild communities ravaged by terrorists.<\/p>\n

According to filings with the U.S. Department of Justice, an initial payment of $4.5 million was reportedly made on December 12, 2025, with another installment due by July 2026.<\/p>\n

\u201cInstead of addressing the real issues confronting the country, the Tinubu <\/a>government is busy paying foreign individuals huge sums of money to tell lies about Nigeria\u2019s security situation,\u201d the statement read. <\/p>\n

\u201cMeanwhile, Nigerians are being killed, kidnapped and attacked every day without protection or justice.\u201d<\/p>\n

The group expressed dismay over what it described as a \u201cpretense\u201d of security by the presidency. They pointed out that criminal groups continue to operate freely across the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT). <\/p>\n

The union also criticized the government\u2019s policy of granting amnesty to \u201cterrorists who have killed, kidnapped and collected ransom from helpless Nigerians.\u201d<\/p>\n

Questioning the rationale behind the expensive contract, the group asked: \u201cWhy is Tinubu <\/a>wasting citizens\u2019 resources to appease President Donald Trump, when he knows very well that his government has a poor record in security, the economy and the political will required to crush terrorists?\u201d<\/p>\n

The group further highlighted the dire state of the nation\u2019s infrastructure, noting that \u201cour schools and hospitals are in terrible, dilapidated conditions\u201d while millions of children remain out of school due to the prevailing insecurity.<\/p>\n

\u00ccgb\u00ecnm\u00f3 M\u00e1j\u00e9k\u00f3b\u00e1j\u00e9 Il\u00e9-Yor\u00f9b\u00e1 has called on the international community and U.S. authorities to investigate the lobbying deal. <\/p>\n

They urged Nigerians to hold the President accountable for \u201csquandering public funds on frivolous and non-essential activities\u201d while the domestic situation remains volatile.<\/p>\n

The union maintained that local security operations and victims of terrorism should be the priority of any responsible government, rather than seeking validation from foreign lobbyists who \u201chave nothing meaningful to contribute to the lives of Nigerians.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

President Bola Ahmed Tinubu is facing a fresh criticism from his home region as a prominent pan-Yoruba socio-political organization, \u00ccgb\u00ecnm\u00f3 M\u00e1j\u00e9k\u00f3b\u00e1j\u00e9 Il\u00e9-Yor\u00f9b\u00e1, has condemned the federal government\u2019s decision to commit $9 million to a United States-based lobbying firm. The group described the expenditure as a \u201creckless\u201d waste of national resources at a time when Nigerians […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14,"featured_media":239324,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-239323","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-politics"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"amp_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/abiaradiostations.com.ng\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/images-2025-12-29T071601.966.jpeg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/abiaradiostations.com.ng\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/239323","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/abiaradiostations.com.ng\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/abiaradiostations.com.ng\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abiaradiostations.com.ng\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/14"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abiaradiostations.com.ng\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=239323"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/abiaradiostations.com.ng\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/239323\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abiaradiostations.com.ng\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/239324"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/abiaradiostations.com.ng\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=239323"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abiaradiostations.com.ng\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=239323"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abiaradiostations.com.ng\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=239323"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}