Bola Ahmed Adekunle TinubuGCFR (born 29 March 1952) is a Nigerian politician who is the 16th and current president of Nigeria.[1] He was the governor of Lagos State from 1999 to 2007; and senator for Lagos West in the Third Republic.
Tinubu spent his early life in southwestern Nigeria and later moved to the United States where he studied Accounting at Chicago State University. He returned to Nigeria in the early 1990s and was employed by Mobil Nigeria as an accountant, before entering politics as a Lagos West senatorial candidate in 1992 under the banner of the Social Democratic Party. After dictator Sani Abacha dissolved the Senate in 1993, Tinubu became an activist campaigning for the return of democracy as a part of the National Democratic Coalition movement.
In the first post-transition Lagos State gubernatorial election, Tinubu won by a wide margin as a member of the Alliance for Democracy. Four years later, he won re-election to a second term. After leaving office in 2007, he played a key role in the formation of the All Progressives Congress in 2013. In 2023, he was elected president of Nigeria.
Background
Tinubu was born in Lagos into the merchant family of Abibatu Mogaji, the Ìyál’ọ́jà of Lagos. He is generally accepted in reliable sources to have been born in 1952;[2] this year of birth is sometimes disputed by political opponents, who argue that he is much older. Some reliable sources note that his age has not been verified.[3][4]
Education
Tinubu attended St. John’s Primary School, Aroloya, Lagos before proceeding to Children Home School in Ibadan.[5] He completed undergraduate studies in the United States, first at Richard J. Daley College in Chicago and then at Chicago State University. He graduated in 1979 with a Bachelor of Science degree in Accounting.[6]
Professional career
Tinubu worked for the American companies Arthur Andersen, Deloitte and GTE Services Corporation.[7] After returning to Nigeria in 1983, he joined Mobil Oil Nigeria, and later became a company executive.[8]
dealing. He settled with the U.S. government and forfeited about $460,000 later that year. Court documents and later reporting on the case suggested he worked in league with two Chicago heroin dealers.[55][56][57]
In April 2007, after the general elections, but before the governor-elect Babatunde Fashola had taken office, the Federal Government brought Tinubu before the Code of Conduct Bureau for trial over the alleged illegal operation of 16 separate foreign accounts.[58]
In January 2009, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission cleared Tinubu and governors James Ibori of Delta State and Obong Victor Attah of Akwa Ibom State of charges of conspiracy, money laundering, abuse of office and official corruption in relation to a sale of Vmobile network shares in 2004.[59] In September 2009, there were reports that the British Metropolitan Police were investigating a transaction in which the Lagos State government made an investment in Econet (now Airtel). Tinubu said the transaction was straightforward and profitable to the state, with no intermediaries involved.[60] The Federal Government rejected a request by Britain to release evidence needed for further investigation and prosecution of the three Nigerian ex-governors in a London court.[61]
During the 2019 election, a bullion van was seen entering Tinubu’s residence on Bourdillion Road in Ikoyi, which caused him to later exclaim: “I keep money anywhere I want.”[62]
Personal life
Tinubu married Oluremi Tinubu, who is a former senator representing the Lagos Central senatorial district, in 1987. They have 3 children, Zainab Abisola Tinubu, Habibat Tinubu and Olayinka Tinubu.[63][64] He fathered 3 children from previous relationships, Kazeem Olajide Tinubu (12 October 1974 – 31 October 2017), Folashade Tinubu (born 17 June 1976) and Oluwaseyi Tinubu (born 13 October 1985), whose mother is rumoured to be the former air hostess and prophetess Bunmi Oshonike.[65][66]
Tinubu’s mother, Abibatu Mogaji, died on 15 June 2013 at the age of 96.[67] On 31 October 2017, his son, Jide Tinubu, died in London.[68] Tinubu is a Muslim.[69]
Honours and decorations
National honours
Nigeria:
Order of the Federal Republic (military) – Nigeria – ribbon bar.gif Grand Commander of the Order of the Federal Republic (GCFR) (25 May 2023)
Traditional titles
Tinubu holds two traditional chieftaincies; he is the “Asiwaju” of Lagos and the “Jagaba” of the Borgu Emirate in Niger State.
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