Bola Ahmed Tinubu was recently declared the president-elect of Nigeria by the INEC Chairman, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu. According to the result declared by the INEC Chairman, Bola Tinubu of APC polled 8,805,655 valid votes to defeat the other three top contenders, Atiku Abubakar of PDP who polled 6,984,520, Peter Obi of Labour Party who got 6,098,588, and Musa Kwankwaso of NNPP who got 1,496,687, in an election marred by controversies and irregularities.

Below are a few facts about Bola Ahmed Tinubu, the next in line to succeed President Muhammadu Buhari.

Bio Data

He was born in Osun State, Nigeria, on March 29, 1952. However, his birth date and education certificates have remained controversial. He holds the chieftaincy titles of Asiwaju of Lagos State and the Jagaban of Borgu Kingdom in Niger State, Nigeria.

Education

Bola Tinubu attended St. Johns Primary School in Lagos and Children’s Home School in Ibadan, Nigeria. He moved to the United States, where he studied at Richard J. Darley College, Chicago, and Chicago State University, and graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in Accounting in 1979.

Career Before Politics

He worked for some American firms in the United States, including Arthur Anderson, Deloitte, and GTE Services. He returned to Nigeria in 1983 where he worked with Mobil Oil Nigeria.

Political Career

Tinubu began his political career in 1992 when he joined the Social Democratic Party (SDP) and became a Senator representing the Lagos West Constituency in the brief Nigerian Third Republic. He joined a pro-democracy group, National Democratic Coalition (NADECO), a group that was formed in 1994 to protest the annulment of the June 12 election and the restoration of democracy.

He went into exile in 1994 due to the activities of General Sani Abacha’s military regime. He returned to Nigeria in 1998 after the death of General Sani Abacha and contested the gubernatorial seat of Lagos State in the 1999 general election under the Alliance for Democracy (AD) and won. He served two terms as the Governor of Lagos State – May 1999 to May 2023 and May 2023 to May 2007.

In 2014, he spearheaded the merger of some political parties in Nigeria, when Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP), Congress for Progressive Change (CPC), and breakaway factions of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and All Progressive Grand Alliance (APGA) joined together to form All Progressive Congress (APC).

Family

Bola Tinubu is a Muslim from South West Nigeria and from the Yoruba ethnic nation. He is married to a Christian Minister and Senator, Oluremi Tinubu, and together they have four children Folashade Tinubu-Ojo, Oluwaseyi Tinubu, Abibat Tinubu, and Jide Tinubu (deceased).

Controversy

In 1993, Tinubu’s assets were frozen by the American government for alleged involvement in drug trafficking. The American government had probable reasons to believe his bank accounts in America held proceeds of drug deals. Tinubu settled the case by forfeiting about $460,000 to the U.S. government. Court documents and later reports revealed that he was a bagman for two Chicago drug dealers in the early 1990s.