In less than one hour, Bola Ahmed Tinubu will take his oath as Nigeria’s 16th president. But amidst the pomp and pageantry of the occasion of his swearing-in at Eagle Square, venue of the august ceremony, the incoming president and commander-in-chief, analysts say, is one of the very few Nigerians who contested the position and won on first attempt.
Tinubu must count himself lucky, according to those who have been watching his trajectory since he became the governor of Lagos in 1999.
Those close to him said his ambition to lead the country started then, and he has been working assiduously to ensure that he never failed in his quest to become the commander-in-chief.
But he took a bold step to achieve this on January 10, 2022 when he visited President Muhammadu Buhari in Aso Rock and informed him that he wanted to succeed him.
“I’ve informed the President of my intention but I have not informed Nigerians yet. I’m still consulting. And I have no problem consulting. And I’ve not set a parameter of limitation to the extent of how many people will I consult,” Tinubu said.
His announcement to take a shot at the nation’s top job was received with mixed feelings among Nigerians, some said he has the capacity to lead the country while others disagreed.
The master political strategist he is, Tinubu since then never wavered in his quest to succeed the incumbent, also considering the opposition that rose against him along the line as he tried to secure his party, the All Progressives Congress, APC, nomination to contest the highest office in the country.
On June 6, 20202, six months after he informed Buhari about his ambition, Tinubu went ahead to defeat vice president Yemi Osinbajo, Minister of Transport, Rotimi Amaechi as his party’s flagbearer in the February 25 presidential election.
He won despite the fact that some powerful forces in his party were opposed to him representing the party at the presidential poll.
For instance, Abdullahi Adamu, the APC candidate had hinted during a meeting held by top leaders of the party in Abuja that Senate President Ahmad Lawan was the party’s choice for the presidency.
Amidst the controversial comment made by Adamu, other school of thought also believed that President Buhari did not want Tinubu to succeed him, even though the president never for once stated publicly his choice for the top job.
Fortunately, neither Adamu nor the recalcitrant Buhari succeeded in stopping Tinubu who went ahead to win the APC nomination, and the stage was now set for him to contest with Atiku Abubakar, the candidate of the People’s Democratic Party, PDP, Peter Obi of the Labour Party, LP, and other candidates who have won their parties’ nominations to contest the nation’s presidency.
With his party still divided over the outcome of the APC presidential primary, Tinubu went ahead to face the two major presidential candidates of the PDP and LP on February 25 without clear indications of who amongst them will win the keenly contested election.
On March 1 2023, the Prof. Mahmud Yakubu-led Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC declared Tinubu winner of the presidential election, after scoring a total of 8,794,726 votes to beat other 17 candidates including Atiku and Obi who came second and third.
Prof. Yakubu said Tinubu met the constitutional provision of scoring the highest number of votes, 25 per cent of the votes cast in 30 states, more than the 24 states constitutionally required.
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