MEET YOUR CANDIDATES 2027 — Profile #1. Bola Ahmed Tinubu, 74, is the sitting President of Nigeria and the All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate in the presidential election of Saturday, 16 January 2027, with Vice President Kashim Shettima as his running mate. He is asking voters to judge him on the most aggressive economic reform programme of Nigeria's democratic era — and renew his mandate.
Tinubu states in official records that he was born on 29 March 1952 in Lagos, the son of Abibatu Mogaji, the Iyaloja (head of market women) of Lagos. Opponents dispute his age — a Chicago State University (CSU) transcript listed 1954 — and aspects of his academic record have been contested for decades (see below). CSU itself confirmed, in records released under a US court order in 2023, that he attended the university and graduated on 22 June 1979 with a BSc in Business Administration, accounting major. A BBC fact-check found no evidence that the diploma he submitted to INEC was forged.
Before politics he was an accountant with Arthur Andersen, Deloitte and GTE in the US, then rose to treasurer at Mobil Producing Nigeria before resigning in 1992. Elected senator that year, he joined the NADECO pro-democracy movement after the annulment of the June 12, 1993 election, went into exile under Abacha, and returned in 1998. He governed Lagos State from 1999 to 2007, then became a central architect of the 2013 merger that created the APC. In 2023 he won the presidency with 8,794,726 votes (36.61%), a result the Supreme Court affirmed on 26 October 2023.
Tinubu's record: subsidy removal, growth figures and student loans
As Lagos governor, his administration rebuilt the state's tax machinery: internally generated revenue rose from about ₦600 million a month in 1999 to about ₦8 billion a month by 2007, and his government created LASTMA and LAMATA, its traffic and transport agencies.
As president, he moved on his first day: the inaugural address of 29 May 2023 ended the petrol subsidy, and his administration unified the foreign-exchange windows weeks later. The headline numbers his campaign now runs on: GDP growth of 4.43% in Q2 2026 (National Bureau of Statistics); inflation down from a 34.8% peak in late 2024 to 14.63% in September 2026; gross external reserves of about $55 billion, per the Central Bank. In June 2025 he signed four tax reform bills — the most comprehensive fiscal overhaul in decades, per EY and PwC analyses — exempting businesses with turnover below ₦100 million from company income tax. His student loan scheme, NELFUND, reported ₦372.62 billion disbursed to 1,659,853 students across 319 institutions as of 30 October 2026. His government raised the minimum wage from ₦30,000 to ₦70,000 in July 2024, and the first section of his flagship 750km Lagos–Calabar Coastal Highway (47.47km) is complete, with the first 30km opened to traffic in December 2025.
What Tinubu is promising for 2027 — in his own claims
Everything in this section is the candidate's or his campaign's pledge, not a verified outcome. Accepting the APC nomination on 24 May 2026, Tinubu promised the "consolidation" of his economic reforms as the centrepiece of a second term. He states his reforms have put Nigeria on a credible path to a $1 trillion economy by 2030. He has ruled out restoring the petrol subsidy — which both leading challengers pledge to restore — and states his NESRI framework will expand technical and vocational training, alongside a 40% rise in academic staff pay agreed with ASUU. Inaugurating his campaign council on 14 October 2026, he charged its members to take "our vision, our record and our agenda to every Nigerian."
The other side: hardship, the 1993 forfeiture and the credentials disputes
Cost of living. The reforms were followed by steep price rises: petrol averaged about ₦1,596 a litre in May 2026, against roughly ₦185 before subsidy removal (NBS data), and food inflation was still 19.59% in September 2026. The World Bank estimates about 63% of Nigerians — roughly 139–140 million people — now live below the poverty line, up from 56% in 2023. His side: the administration says the systems it inherited were unsustainable and the hardship is the cost of correction; Vice President Shettima conceded in October 2026 that the reforms had caused hardship and said their benefits must now move "from the treasury to households."
The 1993 US forfeiture. In 1993 the US government brought a civil forfeiture action in Illinois against funds in accounts held in Tinubu's name, after an IRS affidavit alleged the money was proceeds of heroin trafficking. The court made no final determination of the money's origin, Tinubu was never criminally charged, and the case settled: he forfeited $460,000 and the remaining funds were released. His side: Tinubu has always denied any link to the drugs trade; his spokesman Festus Keyamo stresses the case was civil, not criminal, involved no indictment and no admission of guilt. Atiku Abubakar's campaign revived the case on 7 November 2026, quoting the court record's description of the funds as "proceeds of narcotics trafficking or funds involved in unlawful financial transactions" — an allegation Tinubu's camp rejects.
Credentials and other questions. Opponents continue to dispute his age and academic records, despite CSU's confirmation of his graduation and the BBC's no-forgery finding; in November 2026 a former CSU lecturer alleged he never attended the university, an allegation that contradicts CSU's official position. A co-founder of Alpha Beta Consulting, the firm that tracked Lagos taxes during his governorship, alleged funds were misappropriated and that Tinubu benefited from its commissions; Tinubu denies receiving commissions, and the claims ended in an undisclosed settlement in June 2022. Critics also question the coastal highway's contract award without open tender and its cost; Works Minister Dave Umahi defends an average of about ₦7.5 billion per kilometre. And his 2023 winning share — 36.61% on 26.71% turnout — was the lowest of the Fourth Republic, rejected by both main opposition parties before the Supreme Court affirmed it.
Supporters say: Emir of Kano Muhammadu Sanusi II, a former central bank governor, told the Oxford Global Think Tank conference on 3 November 2026 that the reforms had brought Nigeria "back from the brink," citing growth of about 4.5%, inflation down to about 14.6% and reserves of $55 billion — while acknowledging the adjustment has been painful. The APC says the election should be "a contest of ideas, records, and policies."
Critics say: the World Bank's October 2026 update argues the priority must now shift to inclusive growth, jobs and poverty reduction, where outcomes lag the headline numbers. Atiku Abubakar (ADC) and Peter Obi (NDC) argue the subsidy and currency policies imposed hardship without adequate cushioning.
What happens next: Tinubu's place on the ballot is settled — he won the APC direct primary on 23 May 2026 with 10,999,162 votes against Stanley Osifo's 16,503 (Osifo rejected the result), and he and Shettima appear on INEC's final list of candidates published on 12 September 2026. His 223-member campaign council (DG: Abdulaziz Yari) was inaugurated on 14 October 2026. Election day is Saturday, 16 January 2027. This living profile will be updated as the campaign develops.
Source: Premium Times, BBC News, National Bureau of Statistics, INEC, Channels Television, BusinessDay. Follow @newstweetnaija on Instagram for the day's biggest stories.
