TDF insists Remi Tinubu did no wrong with her National Library funding initiative

‎The Democratic Front (TDF) has described the initiative by Nigeria’s First Lady, Senator Oluremi Tinubu, to raise funds for the completion of the abandoned National Library project in Abuja as commendable
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‎This, it says, is contrary to the position of the 2023 Presidential candidate of the Labour Party, Peter Obi, who upbraided her, asking her friends to donate to the project in commemoration of her birthday.
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‎In a statement signed by its Chairman, Mallam Danjuma Muhammad, and Secretary, Chief Wale Adedayo, TDF argued that there is nothing new in Senator Tinubu’s philanthropic move to get the Library project going.
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‎”We believe that the First Lady’s initiative deserves global commendation for several reasons, one of which is the resonance of the age-long universal practice that makes individual philanthropic efforts the most reliable funding method for public libraries across the world.
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‎”Similarly, the philanthropic decision underscores her personal commitment to the success of the current educational policies of the Tinubu administration, and will significantly complement government efforts towards making the National Library in Abuja a reality after 19 years.
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‎”We are however perplexed by the unabashed display of cluelessness and audacious ignorance in the public space, by a former presidential candidate of Labour Party Mr. Peter Obi, in criticizing the First Lady for asking her well wishers to donate the money intended for birthday gifts towards the completion of the National Library Project, which was abandoned by three successive PDP administrations, one of which Obi actively served as a member of its Economic Team.
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‎”It is pretentious, preposterous, and deceitful for Mr. Obi to describe the First Lady’s action as ‘noble’ but an ‘indictment’ on the part of the present political leadership, when in actual fact, it was he and his colleagues in the PDP era Economic Team that squandered the opportunity to complete the Library project by subjecting it to an endlessly corrupt budgeting procedure which stalled its completion till date.
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‎”It is on this note that we thank Her Excellency, Sen. Oluremi Tinubu, for the exemplary passion in promoting education and human capital development in Nigeria.
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‎”Our appreciation is particularly informed by the painful realisation that a leader of one of the PDP administrations, who had the opportunity to construct the National Library, abandoned it to build a multi-billion-naira Presidential library in Abeokuta, Ogun State.
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‎”Indeed, Senator Tinubu’s show of selflessness and patriotism in donating the over N20 billion realised from her birthday gifts towards the completion of the project is a noble philanthropic gesture that will forever be remembered and appreciated by Nigerians.
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‎”Contrary to Obi’s misleading and negative imaginations over the First Lady’s action, her personal sacrifices for the national library project do not, in any way, suggest a dereliction of duty on the part of the federal government, much less of constituting an indictment on the leadership of President Tinubu, as he would want Nigerians to believe.
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‎”We therefore call on Nigerians to emulate the First Lady’s kind gesture, in showcasing patriotism and continuous faith in the greater future of the country.
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‎”We also reject, and strongly condemn Obi for his desperate bid to mislead the public about the well-intended action,” the group added.
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‎TDF noted that by her gesture Senator Tinubu has joined the class of great philanthropists like Andrew Carnegie, an industrialist, who funded 2,509 public libraries worldwide, to transform public access to knowledge and relevant information.