Investigative journalist Babajide Otitoju has challenged former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar’s claim that President Bola Tinubu is 90 years old, questioning the historical basis of the allegation and pointing to the late businessman and politician MKO Abiola as a reference point.
Otitoju made the remarks on TVC News on Sunday, August 30, 2026, while responding to the controversy generated by Atiku’s assertion that Tinubu is 90 and his declaration that he has records to prove it in court.
Otitoju said it would be difficult for him to accept that Tinubu is older than Abiola, whom he described as a major political figure and an influential political figure around Tinubu’s generation.
“MKO Abiola, whom everyone sees as a big uncle to Bola Tinubu, a big political uncle to him,” Otitoju said.
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He noted that Abiola, who died in 1998 aged 60, would have been 89 in 2026. Otitoju said the comparison raised questions about Atiku’s claim that Tinubu is already 90.
“So Atiku wants me to believe that Tinubu is older than MKO Abiola,” he remarked.
Otitoju added that Abiola and his father were born in the same year, a fact that made the claim even more difficult for him to reconcile.
“MKO Abiola and my dad were born the same year. So they want me to believe that Bola Tinubu is older than my dad. There’s no way,” he said.
The comments add to a controversy that began after Atiku made the age allegation during a BBC interview.
New Daily Prime reported on August 28, 2026, that Atiku had claimed Tinubu was 90 and said he possessed documentary evidence that he would present in court. Atiku made the assertion while defending his decision to contest the 2027 presidential election.
“I have evidence and records that he is, and I will present it in court,” Atiku said in the interview.
The claim contradicts Tinubu’s official birth record. The State House said the President was born on March 29, 1952, making him 74 in 2026.
The controversy took another turn the following day.
New Daily Prime reported on August 29, 2026, that Reno Omokri had introduced a 1996 photograph of Tinubu and newspaper publisher Dele Momodu into the dispute where he asked whether the image was consistent with Atiku’s claim.
Omokri reasoned that if Tinubu were 90 in 2026, he would have been 60 when the photograph was taken in 1996. He challenged Momodu to confirm the authenticity, date, and location of the image.
In the same report, Omokri cited a reference involving the late Fuji musician Sikiru Ayinde Barrister, who was born in 1948 and was said by Omokri to have referred to Tinubu as “Aburo”, meaning younger brother, in a song.
That reference was presented by Omokri as part of his challenge and not as independent proof of Tinubu’s age.
Otitoju’s recent intervention rests on a different form of historical reasoning. He said people who knew Tinubu during his formative years could provide useful evidence about his age.
“Whether we like it or not, there are people who know the President very well,” Otitoju said. “Some of them, they grew up together.”
He also mentioned former military officer and politician Shehu Musa Yar’Adua, whom he described as someone who had a close political relationship with Tinubu.
Atiku’s allegation has therefore generated competing attempts to test the President’s official age through documentary records, photographs, and recollections of people who knew him.
As it stands now, the official record cited by the State House places Tinubu’s birth in 1952, while Atiku has maintained that he possesses evidence supporting a different age.
The political significance of the dispute is heightened by the approaching 2027 presidential election, in which Atiku is seeking the presidency on the platform of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) while Tinubu is expected to defend his administration’s record and seek another term.
