Reno Omokri, Ambassador-designate of the Federal Republic of Nigeria to Mexico, Honduras, Guatemala and Nicaragua, has challenged Atiku Abubakar’s claim that President Bola Tinubu is 90 years old.
Omokri, in a statement on Friday, also challenged journalist and publisher Dele Momodu
to testify to the authenticity of a photograph he said was taken with Tinubu in London in 1996.
The intervention came after Atiku, in a BBC interview published on Friday, claimed that Tinubu was 90 years old and said he had evidence to prove the allegation in court.
Atiku had said, “I 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?”
When the interviewer challenged the claim, noting that Tinubu was not yet 90 and that his age could not be confirmed or denied, Atiku replied, “I have evidence that he is, and I will present it in court.”
Reacting to the claim, Omokri posted a photograph purportedly showing Tinubu and Momodu in London in 1996, arguing that the image raised questions about the allegation that the President was 90.
He said, “This 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.
“Look 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.”
Omokri then 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 allegedly taken 30 years ago.
“Does 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?” he asked.
He added, “If Asiwaju is indeed ninety years of age, then he would have been sixty when this photo was taken exactly thirty years ago.
“I 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?”
Omokri also appealed to Momodu, recalling the latter’s previous comments about Tinubu’s support for him during his exile from the regime of the late military dictator, Sani Abacha.
