Tinubu may have won the presidential election, but he has done so at a huge cost: his control of Lagos is already dying, and his work as president will further alienate him from the nitty-gritty of Lagos’ politics. For the first time in over a decade, he may not be able to determine who becomes the next governor of Lagos.
No one knows for sure when the kingmaker was born, literally; but everyone knows his end is near, figuratively. Despite being declared president-elect in a controversial election scoring the lowest votes by a winner since Nigeria returned to democracy in 1999, Bola Tinubu, the long-term kingmaker of Lagos, could be nearing the end of his political rulership. Especially after having been rejected in Lagos, a state he has long controlled.
Tinubu’s birth date has always been contentious—most recently, in December 2022 at Chatham House (the darling location of Nigerian politicians) he tried to dismiss the controversy around his age as unimportant. The uncertainty of Tinubu’s birth date is one of several controversies related to his life, others being his educational background and job history...