Bola Ahmed Tinubu: 10 key points about the Lagos ‘landlord’ set to lead Nigeria

The announcement of March 1, 2023 by Mahmood Yakubu, chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), meant the one-time Lagos State governor has achieved a long-held dream of leading from the center, Abuja.

Tinubu is however a divisive character in Nigerian politics, partly for his style of leadership, ‘ownership of Lagos politically and in terns of business interests, as well as allegations of drug pushing and corruption.

GhanaWeb produces 10 top facts about the man known as the landlord of Lagos:

1. His full name is Bola Ahmed Adekunle Tinubu. He holds the titles of the Asiwaju of Lagos and the Jagaban of Borgu Kingdom.

2. His known date of birth is 29th March 1952, which makes him 70 years, a figure that has widely been disputed.

3. Even though he has become more famed for his influence in Lagos (Nigeria’s commercial hub) and his time as its governor, his birthplace is Osun State, southwest of Nigeria. He is a Yoruba by ethnicity

4. Tinubu had his education in Nigeria’s Ibadan before he continued to college in Chicago and onwards to the Chicago State University for his undergraduate studies. He graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Accounting in 1979.

5. He worked for a number of accounting firms in the States before he moved to Nigeria in 1983. Bola Tinubu joined Mobil Oil Nigeria, and soon after, he was appointed as the company’s executive.

6. He joined politics in 1992 with the Social Democratic Party (SDP) on whose ticket he became Lagos West Senator.

7. Tinubu joined pro-democracy groups after the ‘electoral coup’ of 1993 (when the military annuled the election of Moshood Abiola) and fled to exile in 1994 fearing the then Sani Abacha regime.

8. He came back to Nigeria in 1998 after the death of Sani Abacha. In January 1999, he vied for the position of Governor of Lagos State on the AD ticket. He was elected governor of the state.

He left the Lagos State government house in 2007 but has since influenced who becomes Lagos governor. The last three governors after he left have all admitted publicly to being his prodigies.

Tinubu’s infleunce has also extended across the southwest region and his political alliances have also seen him make very loyal friends in the Muslim dominated north.

9. He became national leader of the ruling APC after its formation in 2014 before the party won elections in 2015 with outgoing Muhammadu Buhari as its flagbearer. He run on a Muslim-Muslim ticket, i.e. he picked a Muslim as his vice (Kashim Shettima from Borno State) contrary to the religious balancing of tickets by the major parties.

10. He is married to Oluremi Tinubu, a Reverend Minister and has four children – Folashade Tinubu-Ojo, Oluwaseyi Tinubu, Abibat Tinubu, and the late Jide Tinubu.

Tinubu beats two main contenders

Tinubu was in the race along with the main opposition People’s Democratic Party’s (PDP) Atiku Abubakar and Peter Obi of the Labour Party (LP).

In terms of the hard figures, APC polled 8,805,655 valid votes as against the PDP’s 6,984,520 and LP’s 6,098,588.

The New Nigerian Peoples Party (NNPP) got 1,496,687 valid votes whiles the fourteen other aspirants together got the remaining 666,298.

Nigeria’s peculiar means of determining president means that the winner must get at least 25% of votes in two thirds of the 36 states plus the Federal Capital Territory of Abuja.

Tinubu had at least 25% of votes in 29 states, Atiku had 25% of votes in 21 states, Obi had 25% of votes in 16 states whiles Rabiu Kwankwaso of NNPP passed the threshold in only one state.

Tinubu is expected to be handed his certificate later today at the Abuja International Conference Center where INEC had used as the collation center for the presidential elections.