Nigeria: Is This a Young Bola Tinubu, Nigerian Presidential Candidate? No, Photo Is of Other Ruling-Party Politician

IN SHORT: The presidential candidate for Nigeria's governing party has had to contend with persistent questions about his identity and credentials. But a photo shared online shows another APC figure as a boy.

A photo posted on Facebook in Nigeria in November 2022 claims to show presidential candidate Bola Tinubu as a boy.

The caption reads: "Young Bola Ahmed Tinubu as a secondary school boy before heading to Chicago to study accounting."

Bola Tinubu is the presidential candidate for Nigeria's governing party, the All Progressives Congress (APC), in the country's February 2023 general elections.

The same photo and claim about Tinubu were also shared on Facebook here, here, and here.

Questions around Tinubu's educational qualification and certificates can be traced back to 1999 when he first ran for governor of Lagos state.

His decision to run for the presidency in 2023 again sparked rumours, including about his educational history, his age, identity, and health. His campaign has often refuted these questions.

But is this a photo of Tinubu as a child? We checked.

Photo of former APC national chairperson

A reverse image search of the photo identifies the person in it as Adams Oshiomhole and not Tinubu.

Oshiomhole is the former national chairperson of the APC. He is also a former governor of Edo state in southern Nigeria.

A search of the phrase "old photo of Adams Oshiomhole" returned results that included the same photo. There's no evidence for it showing Bola Tinubu.

AllAfrica publishes around 500 reports a day from more than 100 news organizations and over 500 other institutions and individuals, representing a diversity of positions on every topic. We publish news and views ranging from vigorous opponents of governments to government publications and spokespersons. Publishers named above each report are responsible for their own content, which AllAfrica does not have the legal right to edit or correct.

Articles and commentaries that identify allAfrica.com as the publisher are produced or commissioned by AllAfrica. To address comments or complaints, please Contact us.