Presidency Denies Claims that Tinubu Aims to Become “Life President” After 2027

The Presidency has strongly rejected assertions by former Kaduna State Governor, Nasir El-Rufai, that President Bola Tinubu might try to remain in power beyond constitutionally permitted limits. The allegation was labelled “baseless and absurd.”

El-Rufai had warned that Tinubu could follow the example of Cameroon’s Paul Biya, who has held office since 1982, if Nigerians fail to unite against him in the 2027 election.

Responding on X (formerly Twitter), Special Adviser on Information and Strategy to the President, Bayo Onanuga, stated that Tinubu is a committed democrat with no intention to stay in office beyond 28 May 2031, even if re-elected in 2027. Onanuga described El-Rufai’s comments as political fabrications and “panic propaganda.”

Onanuga also took issue with El-Rufai’s narrative that Tinubu has lost support in the North, pointing out the “grand reception” Tinubu received in Kaduna as evidence to the contrary.

Meanwhile, the Presidency suggested that El-Rufai, now in a new political party, might benefit from “professional counselling” to steer him away from what it called “recent political fabrications.”

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