President Bola Tinubu has revealed that a request for ₦50,000 by a close acquaintance during the 2023 campaign almost made him abandon his presidential ambition.
Speaking in a video while reflecting on his political journey, Tinubu said the man came to his residence at about 3:30 a.m. to ask for financial help.
According to him, the visitor said the country was going through serious economic hardship and wondered why he was seeking the presidency when people could not even access cash.
“One of them walked up to my living room at about 3:30 in the morning during the campaign and said he needed only ₦50,000 to take to our uncle because they had no foodstuff,” Tinubu recalled.
He said the man blamed him for the scarcity of the naira and the rush at bank counters, and questioned his decision to contest.
“You stand, you sit there, the currency is gone because of you. No currency to cash. People are jumping the counter in the banks and all of that. Your uncle is wealthy and has no ₦10,000. What are you running for?” the visitor reportedly said.
Tinubu said he told him he was running for the presidency, not for himself, his uncle or his family.
After collecting the ₦50,000, the man told him on his way out, “I don’t think you’ll make it.” Tinubu said he replied confidently that he would win, and that the man would one day come to him for a job.
The President added that he later learnt the money got to his uncle, who in turn gave ₦10,000 to a cousin.
Tinubu admitted the encounter briefly rattled him. “I was amazed. I almost dropped the idea of running, of continuing the race,” he said.
He, however, said the encouragement of political allies, especially Ibrahim Masari, helped restore his resolve. According to him, Masari led a Northwest group to Abuja and assured him that Nigerians knew him and he should not look back.
“That’s all the tonic that was necessary,” Tinubu said.
The President also gave thanks to God for his political journey.
“We are here. Nigeria is a great nation. And I’m very, very grateful to all of you here tonight. Grateful to Almighty God for what He has done for me personally,” he said.
“It wouldn’t have been possible without the grace of God, the blessing of it,” he added.
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