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Just two days before Nigeria votes in an election considered the most important in Africa, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, of the All-Progressive Congress Party (APC) has emerged as one of the candidates likely to succeed President Muhammadu Buhari, who is barred from seeking re-election after serving two terms in office.
It is about a month before the citizens of Nigeria return to the ballots to elect new and fresh blood in their topmost leadership seat, the presidency.
Temperatures have shot high on the stiff competition witnessed among the contenders for the highest seat on the land. The 2023 presidential election will probably be the most challenging and closely watched in Africa.
A four-horse race to lead the most populous nation in Africa has drawn several politicians and technocrats who want to succeed the current president, Muhammadu Buhari. Among these competitors is Tinubu, who will be flying high the APC candidature in the 2023 presidential general election and his running mater Kashim Ibrahima Shettima, setting up a Muslim-Muslim ticket in a nation where religious tension is high.
Bola Tinubu has beat all odds to rise to one of the most influential politicians in Nigeria, from being a kitchen porter, a watchman, and a taxi driver to necessitate his stay in college at the Richard J. Daley College Chicago, where he studied accounts.
Tinubu, an accountant by profession and now one of the horses in Nigeria’s presidential elections was born on March 29, 1952. His stakes are high as he is considered a political bigwig in the country.
A former Lagos governor, aged 70, he outwitted political rivals to earn the party’s nomination to run for the seat. Atiku Abubakar of the prominent opposition People’s Democratic Party, Peter Obi of the Labour party, and a few other less well-known candidates are his main rivals as he begins the race as the favorite candidate.
Tinubu joined the political field in 1992 as a senator under the social democratic party. He spent years championing democracy from the dictatorial regime of Sani Abacha, who later forced him to exile in 1994 for his persistence in the call for democracy. He later returned in 1998 following the demise of Sani Abacha, which marked the beginning of the Fourth Nigerian Republic, of which he was a member.
Before joining politics, he held positions with businesses including Arthur Andersen and Deloitte, Haskins & Sells. He was also a Mobil Oil Nigeria executive. He ran for governor of Lagos State on the Alliance for Democracy party in January 1999 and won.
During his tenure, which lapsed in 2007, he enacted changes that increased the civil service’s effectiveness and upgraded the nation’s infrastructure. Tinubu gave the downtrodden in Lagos several housing units after being sworn in as the governor.
He significantly improved the state’s educational system during his eight years in office. Furthermore, he started new infrastructure investments necessary to accommodate the state’s rapidly expanding population and Nigeria.
Tinubu, now the leader of the All-Progressive Congress Party (APC), is having a shot at the presidency after shelving his ambitions to be the running mate of the incumbent president back in 2015. His style of politics of one not to be ignored as it has driven quite a number to office in Nigeria. He stepped aside for his ally Yemi Osibanjo, a former justice commissioner. Their effort bore fruit as they set history by defeating the ruling party, which had stayed in power for sixteen years.
I am not a contestant in the coming election, but my party, @OfficialAPCNg, has a candidate in the person of Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu. I am calling on all of you to vote for @officialABAT. He is reliable, a true believer in Nigeria, and he will build on our achievements. pic.twitter.com/RMHlCFuOiy
— Muhammadu Buhari (@MBuhari) February 19, 2023
Since stepping down as governor in 2007, Tinubu has played a role akin to a kingmaker, appointing and ousting political allies and cronies whose devotion he firmly commands. After being out of office for a while, it took him time to decide whether to do nothing or return to power.
Umar Yar’ Adua and Goodluck Jonathan, two comparatively unknown candidates in the limelight, would rise to assume the presidency under Bola Ahmed Adekunle Tinubu’s guidance.
Tinubu declared his candidacy for the seat last year in January after consultations with the current president, also a member of APC. He won the party primaries, receiving 1,271 votes in the presidential party primaries, beating 13 other candidates.
In an interview with State House reporters in Nigeria, he stated that being the nation’s leader has always been his goal for life.
He will now face off with Alhaji Atiku Abubakar of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), Peter Obi of the Labour Party (LP), and Senator Rabiu Kwankwaso of the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP). A total of 18 candidates have declared an interest in the Nigerian presidency.
He has a tough road ahead of him that entails convincing the more than ninety million registered voters in the country that he deserves the seat. He is banking on his long-term experience in leadership and politics to clinch the seat.
Tinubu has an eight-point agenda manifesto that he says will be instrumental in steering the country if he gets to lead.
“Renewed Hope 2023 – Action Plan for a Better Nigeria” is what he coded in the manifesto, with priorities given to economics, agriculture, electricity, oil and gas, transportation, and education.
He believes his party is destined to continue with the projects that the incumbent president has already begun and that their party, which they share, should remain in power at all costs. Tinubu believes in creating a new society based on equality, compassion, tolerance, and a firm commitment to treating everyone with respect and decency.
Tinubu said he stands a better chance if things work in his favor because APC receives the backing of the broad voter population and serves as the ruling party. Tinubu is counting on grassroots support that could make him emerge as the winner.
To win, Tinubu will have to overcome allegations of corruption against him as he has been implicated in several court cases.
In 2018 Alpa Beta, a consultancy owned by Tinubu, was caught at the center of N100 billion in fraud, tax evasion, and money laundering. This has been one of the stumbling blocks facing him as inquiries are made into his sources of wealth.
It has also been alleged that when he first became governor of Lagos, Tinubu was in bed with a syndicate that smuggled drugs and received money from drug deals. A US court ordered Tinubu to forfeit almost $500,000 to the US government.
Tinubu’s camp has denied the allegation saying the opponents are misrepresenting the matter.
PR Nigeria looked into the allegation and found some truth to the case, though they could not verify the extent of Tinubu’s involvement.
With all these aspects considered, it’s safe to say the elections in Nigeria come February 25 will be so tight, and Tinubu will have to put up an intense fight for him to win the presidency.
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