{"id":129202,"date":"2026-08-28T22:21:16","date_gmt":"2026-08-28T21:21:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/?p=129202"},"modified":"2026-08-28T22:21:16","modified_gmt":"2026-08-28T21:21:16","slug":"90-year-old-tinubu-omokri-challenges-atikus-claim-with-1996-photo","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/exclusive\/90-year-old-tinubu-omokri-challenges-atikus-claim-with-1996-photo\/","title":{"rendered":"90-Year-Old Tinubu? Omokri Challenges Atiku\u2019s Claim With 1996 Photo"},"content":{"rendered":"
By Oscar Okhifo<\/strong><\/div>\n
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Reno Omokri, once one of President Bola Tinubu\u2019s fiercest critics, has emerged as one of his most vocal defenders, a political transformation that has earned him the \u201cturncoat\u201d label from some Nigerians.<\/p>\n

The criticism, however, appears to have done little to diminish Omokri\u2019s willingness to confront anyone he believes has attacked the President.<\/p>\n

His latest intervention followed former Vice President Atiku Abubakar\u2019s claim that Tinubu is 90 years old, with Omokri challenging the allegation by producing a photograph purportedly showing Tinubu with journalist and publisher, Dele Momodu, in London in 1996.<\/p>\n

Omokri, who is Nigeria\u2019s ambassador-designate to Mexico, Honduras, Guatemala and Nicaragua, said the photograph provided an opportunity to test Atiku\u2019s claim against a visual record from three decades ago.<\/p>\n

The controversy followed an interview Atiku granted the BBC in which the presidential candidate of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) claimed that Tinubu is 90 years old and described him as sick, while portraying himself as physically fit and capable of governing Nigeria.<\/p>\n

Atiku said, \u201cI have a president who is 90 years old now, and who is sick, and I am healthy, I am strong, so why would I not make my services available to my fellow countrymen?\u201d<\/p>\n

When the interviewer challenged the claim, noting that Tinubu was not yet 90 and that his age could neither be confirmed nor denied, Atiku responded: \u201cI have evidence that he is, and I will present it in court.\u201d<\/p>\n

The assertion has since placed renewed attention on Tinubu\u2019s age and, more importantly, on the nature and credibility of the evidence Atiku says he possesses.<\/p>\n

Whether the former vice president will eventually produce the evidence and whether it can independently substantiate his claim could become a major issue as political activities ahead of the 2027 presidential election intensify.<\/p>\n

Omokri, meanwhile, has chosen to challenge the claim with a photograph he said was taken in London in 1996. He asked Nigerians to consider whether Tinubu appeared to be 60 years old at the time if, as Atiku alleged, the President is currently 90.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is a photo of Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu and Dele Momodu taken in London in 1996. If Asiwaju is indeed 90 years old, as recently alleged, then Dele Momodu must be in his eighties,\u201d Omokri said.<\/p>\n

\u201cLook at the photo yourself. I have not altered it in any way. Dele Momodu is alive to testify to the authenticity of this photograph and the date and place where it was taken.\u201d<\/p>\n

Omokri further questioned whether Tinubu appeared to be 60 years old in the photograph, arguing that if the President were 90 in 2026, he would have been 60 when the photograph was taken 30 years ago.<\/p>\n

\u201cDoes His Excellency, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, GCFR, President and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, look like a sixty-year-old in this photo?\u201d he asked.<\/p>\n

He added, \u201cIf Asiwaju is indeed ninety years of age, then he would have been sixty when this photo was taken exactly thirty years ago.<\/p>\n

\u201cI urge objective Nigerians and citizens of the world to again look at this photo. Does the gentleman on the right look sixty? Does he even look fifty?\u201d<\/p>\n

The photograph has previously been identified as showing Tinubu and Momodu in London in 1996. Momodu had said the picture was taken at the naming ceremony of his second son, Enitanyole Momodu, on July 14, 1996, when both men were in exile during the regime of the late military dictator, Sani Abacha.<\/p>\n

Omokri also appealed to Momodu, recalling the publisher\u2019s previous comments about Tinubu\u2019s support for him during his exile from the Abacha regime.<\/p>\n

\u201cI remind Dele Momodu that, by his own admission, Asiwaju was good to him when he was in exile from the Abacha regime.<\/p>\n

\u201cMr Momodu is free to support whichever candidate he chooses. But will it be morally acceptable for Dele Momodu to watch idly by as a man who was once his benefactor, and who he once referred to as his friend, is being accused of being a nonagenarian suffering from ill health?\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Omokri argued that political campaigns should focus on issues affecting Nigerians rather than what he described as attempts to \u201cage-shame\u201d political opponents.<\/p>\n

\u201cPerhaps we can raise the bar for this election by raising issues germane to the Nigerian people and brainstorming ideas to resolve the challenges plaguing our polity.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut to age-shame people with ages that are not even theirs is to reduce the discussion about who governs Nigeria to an unbecoming level,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Tinubu is publicly listed as 74 years old, having been born on March 29, 1952.<\/p>\n

The President has previously faced questions and controversies concerning his age and academic records, although he has consistently maintained his publicly stated personal details.<\/p>\n

Atiku has also previously raised questions about aspects of Tinubu\u2019s personal history, alleging that the President has too many secrets and describing some details surrounding his life history as nebulous.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, Atiku, who emerged as the ADC presidential candidate ahead of the 2027 election, maintained that he remained fit and capable of contesting for the presidency.<\/p>\n

The Wazirin Adamawa said, \u201cWhy should you question me on my right? It is my constitutional right. I am strong, I am healthy, I am agile.\u201d<\/p>\n

Atiku said his experience, competence and patriotism were among the reasons he believed he was qualified to lead Nigeria.<\/p>\n

He also criticised the Federal Government over insecurity, arguing that inadequate manpower and equipment had weakened the country\u2019s security architecture.<\/p>\n

He promised that, if elected in 2027, his administration would tackle insurgency and insecurity within its first year in office.<\/p>\n

\u201cI believe within one year they should be able to see that. And believe me, within one year, we can control this insurgency and insecurity that is all over the place,\u201d Atiku said.<\/p>\n

With the age controversy now firmly in the political arena, attention may increasingly shift from the allegation itself to the evidence behind it.<\/p>\n

If Atiku is prepared to take the claim to court, the key question will be whether the evidence he says he possesses can withstand scrutiny and establish his assertion beyond political rhetoric.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n