Nigerian Statesman Chuba Okadigbo’s 1992 Remark on Bola Tinubu Foretold Current Presidency, Says Lagos Official

A senior political figure in Nigeria has recounted a decades-old remark by late Nigerian Senate President Chuba Okadigbo that many now interpret as foreshadowing the eventual rise of President Bola Tinubu to the nation’s highest office.

At the commissioning of a major infrastructure project in Lagos on Wednesday, Tajudeen Olusi, chairman of the Lagos State Governance Advisory Council, revisited an exchange from 1992 — the era of Nigeria’s Third Republic — when Tinubu served as a senator representing Lagos West.

Olusi said that in the contest for leadership of the Senate that year, Tinubu stepped aside in favour of Okadigbo, demonstrating political humility. According to him, that moment prompted Okadigbo to declare that Tinubu would one day become president.

“God spoke through Okadigbo that day and he said this: ‘Bola you see, he would become Nigeria President one day,’” Olusi recalled, describing the statement as “on record” and attributing Tinubu’s eventual presidency to divine providence.

Analysts note that Tinubu’s political career stretches back to the early 1990s: he was elected to Nigeria’s Senate in 1992, later became governor of Lagos State, and assumed the presidency in 2023.

Olusi also praised Tinubu’s contributions to national development, particularly in Lagos, framing his rise as part of a larger historical narrative rooted in persistence and service.