A former Governor of Lagos state and frontline politician in Nigeria, Senator Bola Ahmed Tinubu has emerged as the flagbearer and presidential candidate for the All-Progressives Congress (APC) in the forthcoming 2023 Presidential elections.

At the end of the Special convention/Presidential primaries organized by the APC at the Eagle Square, Abuja, he polled 1,271 votes to defeat his closest rival Rt. Hon Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi, the former Minister of Transportation, polling 316 votes. 

Vice President Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, GCON came third with 235 votes, while Senate President Dr. Ahmed Lawan polled 152 votes to clinch the fourth spot.

Tinubu benefitted from seven(7) Presidential aspirants who stepped down for him at the primaries. They include; Senator Godswill Akpabio, Senator Ibikunle Amosun, Governor Abubakar Badaru, Governor John Kayode Fayemi, Rt. Hon Dimeji Bankole, Senator Ajayi Boroffice and Mrs. Uju Ohanenye.

Also known as ‘Asiwaju,’ Senator Bola Tinubu has been actively involved in politics since 1992 when elected into the third republic Senate representing Lagos West. 

He worked with Late Chief Moshood Abiola, who won the annulled 1993 Presidential elections, and after leaving the country into exile, returned to participate in the fourth republic.

The accountant turned politician was elected Governor of Lagos on the platform of the Alliance for Democracy from 1999 to 2007. He played a vital role in the emergence of successive Governors after him, including Mr. Babatunde Raji Fashola, SAN, Mr. Akinwunmi Ambode and Mr. Babajide Sanwoolu. 

He was instrumental in the merger that led to the All-Progressives Congress, APC party, through which President Muhammadu Buhari, GCFR, won the 2015 and 2019 general elections.

The APC leader believes in a public-private partnership for infrastructure and the privatization of state assets and led Lagos state to leverage the Nigerian capital market to carry out various socio-economic projects.

During his tenure as Governor of Lagos State, the ‘Lekki Free Trade Zone’ was conceived and twenty years(20) after has attracted Dangote Petrochemical Plant and Kellogs Tolaram Industries, amongst others.