EXTRA: Meet Tinubu’s mother to confirm his age, Gbaja tells critics

Femi Gbajabiamila, speaker of the house of representatives, has asked those doubting the age of Bola Tinubu, presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), to confirm from his late mother.

Gbajabiamila spoke on Saturday at a rally organised by the APC in Lagos.

Tinubu’s year of birth has been a subject of controversy with some Nigerians claiming the APC presidential candidate is older.

In 2021, Wikipedia had locked the profile page of Tinubu over frequent changes to his age by contributors, describing it as “persistent vandalism”.

Gbajabiamila said those doubting Tinubu’s age should confirm from his late mother — Abibatu Mogaji — who died in 2013.

“We are here today to energise the base (Lagos). This is not the real campaign,” he said.

“Everybody here is BATified so we are here to showcase ourselves. There is a very small group outside; they are called the undecided voters. Now, I want to talk to those ones through you.

“They will ask you a lot of questions. They will ask you: ‘Who is Tinubu?’ Tell them, Femi Gbajabiamila, the speaker of the house, said Tinubu is the greatest politician in modern-day Nigerian politics.

“They will ask you ‘How old is he; what is his age?’ Tell them, Femi Gbajabiamila said he is the age his mother said he is, and if they doubt his age, they should go and meet his mother to reconfirm.

“They will tell you: ‘But they said he did not go to school’. Tell them that I said he is more educated than all the contestants put together.

“They will say: ‘But they said they want him in America?’ Please don’t argue with them. Tell them that the Americans have said repeatedly that they do not know what they are talking about.

“They will say ‘But they say that he is corrupt’. Tell them he is the most investigated presidential candidate in the history of Nigeria and nothing has been found on him.

“When they ask about a Muslim [vice-presidential candidate], tell them that God is moving mysteriously in ways that they cannot understand. Tell them that in Shettima, God is about to live out His scripture of the rejected stone that became a cornerstone.

“If they ask you what has he done to develop Nigeria, tell them he has developed men and women who in turn have developed Nigeria.”