BY: Oluwatoyin Hawal Momolosho
The claim that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu is 90 years old has resurfaced online after former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar made the allegation during a BBC Hausa interview.
The development has triggered renewed debate over Tinubu’s age, with social media users circulating old posts and documents as supposed evidence.
However, a review of the evidence shows that the post uses an authentic 2020 birthday message from Atiku but misrepresents what the message establishes.
Claim:
A Facebook post by Ayekooto Akindele claims that former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar has released evidence showing that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu is over 90 years old.
The post, which was also shared on X by the same user, carries a screenshot of an Atiku post from March 29, 2020, in which the former vice-president wished Tinubu a “happy 68th birthday.”
Verdict:
Misleading. Available evidence confirms that Atiku published the 2020 birthday message, but the post does not prove that Tinubu is over 90 years old.
Rather, the message shows that Atiku publicly referred to Tinubu as 68 years old in 2020.
Atiku’s separate claim in 2026 that he possesses evidence showing Tinubu is 90 remains unverified because the alleged evidence has not been publicly produced for independent examination.
Who is Bola Ahmed Tinubu?
Bola Ahmed Tinubu is the President of Nigeria and a former Governor of Lagos State.
He became president after winning the February 2023 presidential election and was inaugurated on May 29, 2023.
His publicly stated date of birth is March 29, 1952.
The State House marked Tinubu’s 74th birthday on March 29, 2026, with the president himself signing a special birthday message in which he referred to the occasion as his 74th birthday.
Who is Atiku Abubakar?
Atiku Abubakar is a former Vice-President of Nigeria and the presidential candidate of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) for the 2027 presidential election.
He was the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the 2019 and 2023 presidential elections.
He has also been a longstanding political rival of Tinubu.
Verification:
However, to determine whether the viral post actually contains evidence that Tinubu is over 90, FactCheckAfrica reviewed the screenshot, traced the original post and examined available public records concerning Tinubu’s age.
Atiku’s 2020 post is authentic.
The screenshot circulating online is not a fabricated Atiku post.
A review of records shows that Atiku published the message on March 29, 2020, from his verified X account, @atiku.
In the post, Atiku wrote:
“On behalf of my family, I wish you, @AsiwajuTinubu, a happy 68th birthday.”
He also prayed for Tinubu to have many more years in good health and strength. The post was published at about 7:51 a.m. on that day.
The photograph and wording shown in the viral post correspond with the original 2020 message.
Therefore, the screenshot is genuine. The problem lies in the interpretation attached to it. The 2020 tweet does not show that Tinubu is 90, but describes Tinubu as 68 years old.
If Tinubu was 68 on March 29, 2020, he would be 74 in 2026.
This is consistent with the age publicly recognised by the State House when Tinubu marked his 74th birthday on March 29, 2026.
For Tinubu to be 90 years old in 2026, he would have been approximately 84 years old in 2020.
Therefore, the birthday message being circulated cannot logically serve as evidence that Tinubu was 90 in 2026.
Instead, the post presents an age that is consistent with the official account of Tinubu’s age.
Where did the 90-year-old claim come from?
The 90-year-old allegation came from a different and much more recent statement by Atiku.
During a BBC Hausa interview published on August 28, 2026, Atiku referred to Tinubu as 90 years old while explaining why he believed his own age should not prevent him from contesting the 2027 presidential election.
When asked about the basis for the claim, Atiku said he had evidence and would present it in court.
The important distinction is that Atiku did not present the 2020 birthday tweet as evidence during that interview.
Rather, he said he had evidence which he intended to present in court.
As of the time of this fact-check, that alleged evidence has not been publicly produced for independent verification.
What do current official records say?
In his birthday message, Tinubu himself wrote:
“Thank you all, and happy 74th birthday to me!”
The statement was signed and dated March 29, 2026.
Other government and public records also described Tinubu as 74 on the same occasion.
This is consistent with the publicly stated birth date of March 29, 1952.
What about the discrepancies in Tinubu’s age records?
There have been longstanding questions about Tinubu’s personal records, particularly following the release of documents connected to his attendance at Chicago State University (CSU).
Some of the documents contained different dates of birth.
For instance, a CSU transcript was reported to contain March 29, 1954, while an undergraduate application contained March 29, 1955.
These discrepancies are genuine and have been the subject of previous fact-checking and media reports.
However, neither date supports the claim that Tinubu is 90 years old.
A person born in 1954 would be 72 in 2026, while someone born in 1955 would be 71.
Thus, the existence of discrepancies in historical records does not establish that Tinubu is over 90.
What about Atiku’s claim that he has evidence?
Atiku’s statement that he possesses evidence is itself a claim that requires verification.
At the time of this report, the evidence he referred to has not been made publicly available for independent examination.
Therefore, FactCheckAfrica cannot independently establish the truth of Atiku’s new allegation solely from his statement.
It is important to distinguish between a claim that evidence exists and evidence that can be examined.
Until the alleged documents are released, their provenance, authenticity, dates and contents cannot be independently assessed.
Conclusion:
The claim that “Atiku releases the evidence showing that President Tinubu is over 90 years old” is misleading.
The screenshot used to support the claim is an authentic 2020 post by Atiku Abubakar in which he wished Tinubu a happy 68th birthday.
However, the post does not constitute evidence that Tinubu is over 90 years old. Atiku made a separate allegation in August 2026 that Tinubu is 90 and said he possesses evidence which he would present in court. That evidence has not yet been publicly produced for independent verification.
Meanwhile, the State House marked Tinubu’s 74th birthday in March 2026, consistent with the publicly stated March 29, 1952 date of birth.
Although discrepancies exist in some historical documents relating to Tinubu’s date of birth, the dates identified in those records do not support the claim that he is 90.
The claim that the 2020 Atiku tweet is evidence that Tinubu is over 90 is therefore misleading.
