Nigeria’s First Lady, Senator Oluremi Tinubu, has revealed that her husband’s choice of a Muslim-Muslim ticket in the 2023 presidential election caused division in her church and left her feeling isolated.
She made the disclosure in her new 52-page book, The Journey of Grace: Giving Thanks in All Things, released on Tuesday to mark her 65th birthday. The memoir, arranged by year from 2021 to 2025, also has a foreword by Dr Folashade Olukoya of Mountain of Fire and Miracles Ministries.
In the book, Mrs Tinubu, a pastor with the Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG), said the decision was “a bitter pill” that split her local assembly.
“One of such decisions was the unpopular ‘Muslim/Muslim ticket’. My being a Christian did not matter. My local Assembly, Redeemed Christian Church of God, was split,” she wrote.
She recalled that she had faced political resistance from her church in the past. “I experienced this during my campaign in 2011 for the Senate, when I took my campaign posters to the church, and it was rebuffed. After that, I never tried again. But my husband’s bid for the Presidential Office was different, a bitter pill for them to chew,” she added.
The Muslim-Muslim ticket of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) was one of the most controversial issues of the 2023 campaign. While critics warned it could deepen divisions in Nigeria, supporters argued that competence and political balance mattered more.
Despite the hostility, Mrs Tinubu said she never stopped worshipping at her parish. “I kept attending church, and I thank God I have grown from being a baby to a mature Christian. So the little resentment I witnessed from a few was met with the peace of God,” she said.
She also acknowledged encouragement from other members. “Many were encouraging, especially our elders, who would encourage me from time to time with prayers. To this end, I am grateful to God and everyone of them, especially those of them who lived to watch the presidential inauguration when the time came,” she wrote.
The First Lady explained that she could not abandon her 15-year commitment to the church, where she rose from being a worker in 2007 to Assistant Pastor in 2018.
“I graduated from The Redeemed Christian Bible College, also School of Disciples, to become a worker, then a Deaconess and later an Assistant Pastor,” she wrote.
On the 2023 election, Mrs Tinubu said her husband faced betrayals from close allies but she chose to forgive. “I do not have anything against anyone. The question is how did I not feel the betrayal anymore? I knew the grace factor was evident, and the Holy Spirit continually comforted me. Never to avenge myself, assuring me that it is God’s prerogative,” she said.
She added that Bola Tinubu had thought about running for president for more than 14 years, but when the moment came, many political associates were not forthcoming. “Some were favourable, while others were neither here nor there. Some said no indirectly, while others would rather want to see the outcome before taking a position,” she recalled.
Mrs Tinubu said her faith helped her to let go of anger. “Letting go is what I did; doing good is what matters most. Like my Saviour Jesus Christ in Acts 10:38… I do not have anything against anyone, and that also shows the frailty of man. Man is not God. We should never put our trust in any man,” she wrote.
She added that she drew strength from 1 Thessalonians 5:18, which calls on believers to give thanks in all things. “It is not in some things to give thanks, but in everything, both good and bad,” she said, noting that this scripture inspired the subtitle of her book.
President Bola Tinubu later won the 2023 presidential election with Kashim Shettima as vice president, defeating Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party and Peter Obi of the Labour Party.
