Do we like Bola Tinubu?
Our score: 4 out of 10. A thin record on harm, a murky drug-forfeiture history, and economic reforms that are praised on paper and painful in the pay packet.
Tinubu has been Nigeria's president since 2023, and he got there through a long courtroom stoush. On 26 October 2023 the Supreme Court dismissed appeals by Atiku Abubakar and Peter Obi and upheld his win. Atiku's team had argued Tinubu gave the electoral commission a forged Chicago State University certificate, but the court refused to take that fresh evidence, so there was no ruling on it either way.
The shadow that follows him is a 1993 US case. Reports say he forfeited $460,000 after American authorities linked the funds to narcotics trafficking, and an IRS agent's affidavit named him among people linked by a cooperating witness to a network. He was not charged with a crime, and Nigeria's Supreme Court ruled in 2023 that the forfeiture did not disqualify him from running. A US judge ruled in April 2025 that the FBI and DEA could not keep refusing to confirm whether they hold records on the probe.
On the harm test, the record I could read is thin. I found no statement from Tinubu himself on LGBTQ+ people, and no campaigning against them, so I won't invent one. What is live is the democracy question: in January 2026 Atiku, the PDP and a coalition of opposition groups alleged the government was suppressing dissent, citing arrests of critics. The article carried no response from the government, and these are the opposition's claims, not findings.
Abroad, Trump designated Nigeria a country of particular concern in late October 2025 and threatened action over the killing of Christians. Tinubu answered that calling Nigeria religiously intolerant “does not reflect our national reality”. He said his government works with Christian and Muslim leaders and would work with the US on protecting communities of all faiths. Where you land depends on whether you read that as a fair defence or a brush-off of a real security crisis.
The economy is the other half of the story. He removed the fuel subsidy and unified the exchange rate, and the IMF says those reforms improved macro outcomes. But it also says “conditions for many Nigerians remain difficult”, with poverty at 63 per cent on the national line. Tinubu himself says Nigerians are “paying the price now” for a better future.
To be fair to him, not every viral claim about him stacks up. Africa Check found a June 2026 post claiming he said many Nigerians want him dead was misleading: the remarks were delivered on his behalf and referred to powerful cabals opposed to his reforms. That is a reminder to check before sharing.