BY: Abdullateef Ayomide

Claim:

A letter circulating on X, formerly Twitter, purportedly signed by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and addressed to the Oba of Lagos, Oba Rilwan Akiolu, claims that Tinubu has accepted that he has lost the forthcoming election and plans to use the machinery of government to frustrate the opposition.

Verdict:

FALSE. 

Full Text:

At exactly 10:22PM on Saturday 19th September, 2026, a verified X user , iDan (@dagbanamanager), posted the letter with the caption: 

“Bola Tinubu has confirmed his fear about the coming elections.”

As of the time of this fact-check, the post had garnered 131.8K views, 1.1K reposts,  2.3K likes and 204 bookmarks.

The letter, dated September 19, 2026, bears the letterhead of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and is titled “I Know the Election Is Lost – But I Will Frustrate the Main Opposition (NDC).”

In the document, the purported writer tells the monarch that although the election has been lost, “the machinery of state remains firmly in our hands.”

It further claims that the government would use its administrative and legal powers to obstruct the opposition, delay processes and create bureaucratic difficulties.

The letter concludes with a warning that those who challenge the government’s authority would face formidable obstacles, followed by the Yoruba proverb “A kii ’i igi kan se igbo”, translated in the document as “One tree does not make a forest.”

Responding to the post, a verified X user, Kaybeelaw (@kabirolatunde), questioned the authenticity of the letter and warned that those responsible for forging it could face legal consequences, saying, “And like seriously some idiots believed this letter is from @officialABAT. Wooowww… I don’t want to hear justice tag for the forger of this letter when the law catches up with him o. And his fellow idiots should keep sharing it until you all find yourselves in jail.”

Another verified user, Mr COOL (@Grass2Grace22), appeared to accept the claim, commenting,“It’s over for Tinubu.”

Several other commenters, however, warned the poster against circulating what they considered to be a fake document.

The widespread circulation of the letter,  its emergence amid heightened political conversations ahead of Nigeria’s 2027 general election and its gaining traction quickly prompted FactCheckAfrica to verify the claim.

Verification:

FactCheckAfrica examined the viral letter and compared its contents, format and its alignment with available official records.

A major point of verification is its purported origin. The document is presented as a personal communication from President Tinubu to the Oba of Lagos but is written on APC letterhead. This is unusual because a personal letter from the President to a traditional ruler would not necessarily require the governing political party’s official letterhead.

The content also contains several extraordinary political assertions, including the admission that the election has been lost and an alleged intention to deliberately obstruct the opposition through government institutions.

FactCheckAfrica searched the official communication channels of the Presidency for evidence supporting the letter.

The State House’s official records for September 19, 2026 contain communications issued by or on behalf of President Tinubu, including an update on the National Affordable CNG Transit Programme. They also contain a government statement concerning an investigation into reported deaths in NSCDC custody in Nigeria state. No publication corresponding to the purported letter to the Oba of Lagos appears among the State House’s official communications reviewed. 

The State House’s records also show that official presidential communications are published with identifiable titles and accompanying information about the issuing office. The viral letter, by contrast, has not been traced to the Presidency’s official publication channels.

The official APC website similarly contains recent statements concerning President Tinubu, including communications dated September 15 and September 17, 2026, but no publication corresponding to the purported letter to Oba Akiolu.

Further Search Reveals a Growing Trend

Further findings by FactCheckAfrica reveals a growing trend on the X social media platform. We observed a series of purported letters attributed to both President Bola Tinubu and NDC presidential candidate Peter Obi, which were being circulated by supporters of the two political camps. The circulation of the documents followed a pattern in which supporters of one candidate shared a fabricated letter targeting the opposing candidate, after which supporters of the other candidate circulated another purported letter in retaliation.

One of the first letters in the sequence was a document purportedly written by Peter Obi to the Obi of Onitsha, Igwe Nnaemeka Alfred Ugochukwu Achebe.

The letter, titled “The Future of Ndigbo is Bleak” and dated September 19, 2026, purportedly concerned the ongoing dispute between Obi and the Anambra State Government over the state’s financial records and liabilities during his tenure as governor.

It called for the opening and examination of financial records and appealed to traditional rulers and political leaders to ensure that the disagreement did not undermine the interests of the Igbo people.

Obi subsequently disowned the document, describing it as “entirely false, malicious, and a fabrication by mischievous elements aimed at misleading the public.” He also said the signature attached to the letter was forged.

The same sequence included another purported letter allegedly written by Tinubu to the President of the United States. The letter, dated September 19, 2026, was titled “The Release of My FBI Case Must Be Handled with Caution” and allegedly appealed to the U.S. government to prevent the release of records concerning him.

The purported Tinubu-to-U.S.-President letter and the letter addressed to the Oba of Lagos were both attributed to Tinubu. However, the signatures appearing on the two documents are different, raising another authenticity concern. No credible Nigerian or U.S. news organisation was found to have independently confirmed that Tinubu authored the alleged correspondence. 

The pattern is significant because the documents targeted both sides of the emerging political divide. One purported to place damaging words in Peter Obi’s mouth, while others attempted to portray Tinubu as making politically damaging admissions.

Conclusion:

The claim that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu wrote to the Oba of Lagos, Oba Rilwan Akiolu, admitting that he had lost the forthcoming election and promising to frustrate the opposition is FALSE.