A chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party, Mr Bode George, has claimed that the presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress, Bola Tinubu, is not an indigene of Lagos State.
He stated this on Arise TV’s Morning Show on Tuesday.
George stated that the former governor of Lagos State is yet to provide evidence to back his claims that he is from Lagos State.
He said, “Tinubu is not from Lagos State. You can quote me. If he says he grew up in Isale-Eko, which school did you attend? I grew up on Evans Street in Lagos. 35 Evans Street was my grandfather’s house. I went to the community school. I played football at the local stadium at Isale-Eko. That’s how people knew me.”
Prior to this, there has been various controversies about the the origin of Tinubu, who governed Lagos between 1999 to 2007.
It would be recalled that a former deputy governor of Lagos State, Senator Kofoworola Bucknor-Akerele, on the 9th of December, 2022 claimed that her former boss changed his name over the years to what he currently bears.
Bucknor-Akerele, in an interview with Alaroye TV said, “We all know Tinubu is not an indigene of Lagos. Everyone knows he is from Iragbiji (in Osun State).
“His name is not Tinubu, he borrowed the name”.
Amid the constant claim that Tinubu changed his name, his associates have challenged critics to present evidence of the presidential hopeful’s birth-given name.
It would also be recalled that a Facebook user, Jackson Ude, recently made a post on a page, Nigeria Cycle, alleging that Tinubu had another name on his primary and secondary school certificates.
The post reads: “Bola Tinubu’s real name is: Yekini Amoda Ogunlere from Iragbiji Osun State. That is what is contained in his primary and secondary school certificates and that’s why he has refused to tender them before INEC.”
The speculations has been fueled by the inability of Tinubu to submit both his primary and secondary school certificates as well as his tertiary school credentials to the Independent National Electoral Commission.
Instead, he attached an affidavit to the INEC form where he claimed that his certificates were stolen after he went on exile during the late General Sani Abacha era.
The affidavit reads: “I went on self-exile from October 1994 to October 1998. When I returned, I discovered that all my property, including all the documents relating to my qualifications and my certificates in respect of paragraph three above, were looted by unknown persons.
“My house was a target of series of searches by various security agents from the time the Senate of the Federal Republic of Nigeria was forced to adjourn following the military takeover of government of 17th November, 1993.
“I was the chairman of the Senate Committee on Appropriation, banking and finance. I was also a plaintiff in one of the two suits against the interim national government in 1993.
“I went on exile when it became clear to me that my life was in danger,” Tinubu said in his claim.
