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Bola Tinubu

Bola Tinubu

16th President of Nigeria

Bola Ahmed Tinubu (born March 29, 1952) is a Nigerian accountant and politician currently serving as the 16th President of Nigeria. Known as the “Jagaban” and the “Lion of Bourdillon,” he is the former Executive Governor of Lagos State (1999–2007) and was a pivotal figure in the formation of the All Progressives Congress (APC). His political career is defined by his transition from a pro-democracy activist with NADECO in the 1990s to becoming the primary architect of modern Nigerian coalition politics.

Quick facts about Bola Tinubu

  1. Before assuming the presidency, he served as Governor of Lagos State from 1999 to 2007, during which he rebuilt the state's financial architecture, overhauled infrastructure, and established a regional political apparatus (the Jagaban machine) that controlled southwestern Nigerian politics for over two decades.
  2. During the 1990s, he was a key financial backing force behind the National Democratic Coalition (NADECO), a coalition fighting against military dictator General Sani Abacha following the annulled 1993 presidential election, forcing Tinubu to flee Nigeria into political exile.
  3. In 2013, he brokered the historic political merger that united rival opposition parties into the All Progressives Congress (APC), successfully engineering the coalition that ousted the long-ruling People's Democratic Party (PDP) in the 2015 elections.
  4. He won the contested 2023 presidential election after rallying his party base with the famous Yoruba phrase "Emi lo kan" ("It is my turn"), prevailing in a fractured three-way campaign despite receiving under 37% of the popular vote.

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