REWIND: In 2020, Atiku wished Tinubu happy 68th birthday
In 2020, former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar wished President Bola Tinubu “happy 68th birthday” and offered him his best wishes.
In a post made at exactly 7:51am on March 29, 2020, Atiku, who was then the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), prayed for many more years for Tinubu in good health and strength.
“On behalf of my family, I wish you, @AsiwajuTinubu, a happy 68th birthday. I also pray many more years for you, in good health and strength. Best wishes. -AA,” Atiku wrote, tagging Tinubu.
In the picture attached to the post, the former vice-president could be seen shaking hands and exchanging pleasantries with Tinubu.
Both men wore traditional attire. Atiku dressed in a dark green outfit, paired with a matching blue patterned cap, while Tinubu wore a light-grey outfit with his customised cap bearing his eyeglasses insignia.
The picture was reportedly taken at the Akure airport, the Ondo state capital, on Monday, June 18, 2018.
Both men were said to be en route to Ekiti for their parties’ campaigns ahead of the July 2018 governorship election in the state.
Atiku would later contest the 2019 presidential election but lost to Muhammadu Buhari, the All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate backed by Tinubu.
Based on Atiku’s 2020 post, Tinubu would be 74 years old in 2026.
This aligns with Tinubu’s biography published on the APC website, which lists the president’s date of birth as March 29, 1952.
However, in a dramatic U-turn on Friday, Atiku claimed that Tinubu is 90 years old and said he has evidence to back up the claim, which he would present in court.
“I have a president who is 90 years old now and who is sick. I am healthy; I am strong. So why would I not make my services available to my fellow countrymen?” Atiku asked in an interview with the BBC.
“I have evidence that he is [90], and I will present it in court.”
But his claim has since sparked heated debates on social media, with Reno Omokri, Nigeria’s ambassador-designate to Mexico, Honduras, Guatemala and Nicaragua, accusing Atiku of age-shaming the president.
In a Facebook post on Friday, Omokri shared a 1996 photograph of Tinubu and Dele Momodu, chieftain of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), arguing that the picture raised questions about Atiku’s claim.
Omokri said there was no way Tinubu could be 90 years old in 2026, arguing that the president did not appear to be 60 in the photograph, which he said was taken in 1996.
But none of the president’s spokespersons had officially reacted to Atiku’s claim as of the time of filing this report.
However, he did not specify the president’s age on any of those occasions, except in the 2020 post.
In the 2021 post, which contained his longest birthday message, Atiku emphasised the contributions he and Tinubu had made to the country’s democratic stability.
“Asiwaju Bola Tinubu @AsiwajuTinubu and I have come a long way in the common mission to restore and promote democracy in Nigeria,” he wrote.
“On this special occasion of your birthday, I pray to the Almighty Allah to grant you long life and more vigour to keep the march on in the quest for good governance and a better life for our people. Congratulations, dear friend and brother.”
atiku abubakar
Atiku birthday message to Tinubu
Tinubu’s age debate
