Bola Ahmed Adekunle Tinubu (born 29 March 1952) is a Nigerian accountant and politician who has been national leader of the All Progressives Congress since the party’s formation in 2013.
He previously served as the governor of Lagos state from 1999 to 2007 and Senator for Lagos West during the brief Third Republic.
In January 2022, he announced his intention to run for the APC nomination for president of Nigeria in the 2023 presidential election.
After spending his early life in southwestern Nigeria, Tinubu studied accounting in the United States before working abroad for several years.
He returned to Nigeria in the mid-1980s and continued working in financial management before entering politics as a successful 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. Although he was forced into exile in 1994, Tinubu returned after Abacha’s 1998 death, a development which triggered the beginning of the transition to the Fourth Republic.
In the first post-transition Lagos state gubernatorial election, Tinubu won by a wide margin as a member of the Alliance for Democracy over the Peoples Democratic Party’s Dapo Sarumi and the All People’s Party’s Nosirudeen Kekere-Ekun.
Four years later, he won re-election to a second term over the PDP’s Funsho Williams by a reduced margin. Tinubu’s two terms were marked by attempts at modernizing the city of Lagos and his feuds with the PDP-controlled federal government.
After leaving office in 2007, Tinubu retained his status as one of Nigeria’s most influential politicians as his allies often filled high offices throughout the southwest and he played a key role in the formation of the All Progressives Congress in 2013.
Long and controversial, Tinubu’s career has been plagued by accusations of corruption and questions about the veracity of his personal history.
Tinubu who is a Muslim is married to Oluremi Tinubu, the current senator of the Lagos Central senatorial district.
His nephew, Adewale Tinubu is the CEO of Oando. Tinubu’s mother Abibatu Mogaji, died on 15 June 2014, at the age of 96.
On 31 October 2017, his son Jide Tinubu had a heart attack while in London and was later confirmed dead.
In 2019, he supported Buhari’s re-election campaign defeating the PDP candidate Atiku Abubakar. In 2020, following an internal party crisis which led to the removal of Tinubu ally and party chairman Adams Oshiomhole, it is believed the move was to scuttle Tinubu’s presidential prospects ahead of 2023.
On January 10, 2022, Tinubu announced his intention to run for the president of Nigeria to replace President Muhammadu Buhari.
On June 8, 2022, Tinubu won the presidential primary of the ruling All Progressive Congress scoring 1271, to defeat Vice President Yemi Osinbajo and Rotimi Amaechi who scored 235 and 316 respectively.
