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Misleading

Photo does not show Tinubu in 1966

Nurudeen Akewushola
Nurudeen Akewushola
Reading Time: 2 min.
Old photo of Donald Duke

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A photo purportedly showing a young version of President Bola Tinubu in 1966 has surfaced online. 

An X user, @imakun122, posted the image among a photo collage, which has four photos chronicling the growth of the president since childhood. The image is located in the first frame of the collage.

He posted the collage with a caption : 

“Our president since childhood to old age.” 

The post has generated over 500 reposts and more than 2000 likes as of September 22, 2025. 

CLAIM 

Photo shows Tinubu in 1966.

screenshot of the viral post

THE FINDINGS 

Findings by The FactCheckHub show that the claim is MISLEADING.

For decades, Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s identity has been the subject of political debate and public controversy in Nigeria. Questions have persisted about his real date of birth, with conflicting records suggesting different years. 

While official documents list his birth date as March 29, 1952, some reports and critics allege discrepancies in his age declarations across forms submitted for political office, fueling suspicions about inconsistencies in his personal records.

He has faced scrutiny over his family lineage and past. Critics argue that the gaps in his early life story, including questions about his parentage and the origin of his name, remain unresolved. 

His political opponents have repeatedly weaponised these controversies to question his integrity and eligibility for public office. As a result of these lingering disputes, many old pictures have been posted online to stem the controversies. 

The FactCheckHub subjected the image to reverse image search, and the result shows that Donald Duke, a former governor of Cross River State, is in the image. An earlier version of the photo can be seen here and here. 

The photo was among many photos circulated online in the build-up to the 2023 general election. 

Donald Duke is a Nigerian politician and lawyer who served as the Governor of Cross River State from 1999 to 2007 under the People’s Democratic Party (PDP). 

file photo; Donald Duke

Born on September 30, 1961, in Calabar, he studied law at Ahmadu Bello University and later earned a master’s degree in business law from the University of Pennsylvania. He contested for the presidency in 2019 under the Social Democratic Party (SDP) but later stepped down.

VERDICT 

The claim that the image shows Tinubu in 1966 is MISLEADING, as findings show that the image shows Donaldo Duke, former governor of Cross River State. 

 

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Nurudeen Akewushola is a fact-checker with FactCheckHub. He has authored several fact checks which have contributed to the fight against information disorder. You can reach him via nyahaya@icirnigeria.org and @NurudeenAkewus1 via Twitter.

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