Tinubu should be likened to Mandela, Rawlings — PEBEC DG

Director General of the Presidential Enabling Business Environment Council (PEBEC), Princess Zahrah Audu, has said President Bola Ahmed Tinubu should be likened to former South African President Nelson Mandela and former Ghanaian President Jerry Rawlings.

Audu, in a statement made available to Tribune Online on Saturday in Abuja, said history rarely evaluates consequential political figures from a single chapter of their lives.

The PEBEC boss, who is also the national publicity secretary of the City Boy Movement, argued that while there are legitimate questions surrounding aspects of President Tinubu’s biography, Nigerians must distinguish between an allegation, a disputed fact and an established fact.

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She referenced the controversy surrounding the President’s education, noting that during litigation in the United States in 2023, Chicago State University’s registrar confirmed that Tinubu attended the university and graduated in 1979, while the controversy concerned the provenance of a particular diploma copy submitted to electoral authorities.

Audu said political leadership produces another kind of evidence beyond certificates, including decisions, institutions, coalitions, reforms and electoral victories, pointing to Tinubu’s career from the Senate in the aborted Third Republic, to Governor of Lagos State from 1999 to 2007, to opposition organiser and key figure in the formation of the All Progressives Congress, APC.

She said, “His certificates may be questioned. His biography may be contested. But his political accomplishments cannot simply be written out of history. If a man supposedly lacking the education or credentials expected of the political elite could nevertheless navigate corporate employment, survive Nigeria’s turbulent democratic struggle, govern its largest commercial centre for eight years, help construct a political organisation capable of defeating an incumbent national ruling party, remain politically relevant for decades and eventually won the presidency, then formal credentials alone would plainly be an inadequate explanation of his political trajectory. I dare say President Bola Ahmed Tinubu must be a genius.”

On the current administration, Audu said President Tinubu’s record must be subjected to a more demanding standard, noting that his government began with bold reforms including fuel-subsidy removal and foreign-exchange regime changes.

She cited assessments by the International Monetary Fund from 2024 to June 2026, which acknowledged the structural significance of the reforms in strengthening macroeconomic stability and rebuilding external buffers, while also warning about rising poverty, food insecurity and fiscal transparency concerns.

Audu stressed that comparisons with Mandela and Rawlings were not to manufacture equivalence, but to illustrate a principle that political identities are not frozen at the point of greatest controversy.

“History is not acquittal, history is accumulation. President Tinubu’s biography should be scrutinised, his government should be criticised where evidence warrants criticism, and his achievements should be subjected to precisely the same evidentiary standard and commendation. I repeat, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu is Nigeria’s greatest president to date,” Audu added.