I don’t have anything against anyone – First Lady

The First Lady, Senator Oluremi Tinubu, says she has forgiven individuals who betrayed her husband during the 2023 election.

She insisted that she has no grudge against anyone and has since chosen peace.

Mrs Tinubu made the disclosure in her new 52-page book, The Journey of Grace: Giving Thanks in All Things, which was released and made available to mark her 65th birthday.

The memoir, structured in five chapters from 2021 to 2025, reflects on her spiritual growth, her husband’s campaign, and the lessons she drew from the controversies surrounding the 2023 polls.

The foreword was written by Dr Folashade Olukoya of the Mountain of Fire and Miracles Ministries.

She wrote, “I do not have anything against anyone…the question is how I did 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. Mine is to thank Him for fighting for us.

“If God decides to fight your battles and you have won, is there any other thing that God missed and you wanted to fix? Nothing, so let it go.”

Her reflections come barely three years after the 2023 general elections, one of the country’s most divisive contests in recent history.

President Bola Tinubu, the flagbearer of the All Progressives Congress, won the February polls with 8.79 million votes, defeating Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party and Peter Obi of the Labour Party.

The result was disputed by the opposition at the Presidential Election Petition Tribunal and later at the Supreme Court, though both upheld Tinubu’s victory.

According to the First Lady, some of her husband’s closest allies were nowhere to be found when he decided to run for office.

She narrated, “He had mused on the idea for over 14 years, and this was where we arrived at a crossroad. Most people I thought would support the idea, because past relationships were not forthcoming.

“After consulting with some of his political allies, he was set to give it a shot.”

The decision now rested on him to go on or not to. A lot of consultations began.”

“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.

“I realised that whatever good you do in life, it is only God who rewards you and not man,” she added.

The First Lady said she drew lessons from the life of Jesus, who went about doing good despite his many detractors.

“Letting go is what I did; doing good is what matters most. Like my Saviour Jesus Christ in Acts 10:38, who, after He was anointed with the Holy Ghost and with power, went about doing good, and healing all that were oppressed of the devil, for God was with Him.

“So 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; when they help, it is God using them to be a blessing.

“When they stop, it means their assignment for you from God has ended. Jeremiah 17:5-8. So look to Jesus, the Author and Finisher of our Faith. Hebrews 12:2,” she added.

The First Lady tied her decision to forgive to wisdom drawn from scripture, saying she found release in thanksgiving and in refusing to expect too much from human relationships.

She narrated, “One morning, while I was in the bathroom, the Holy Spirit dropped this Word in 1 Thessalonians 5:18 in my spirit man.

“He further explained to me that it is not in some things to give thanks, but in everything, both good and bad.

“Then I realised that this publication’s subtitle will be just that,” she wrote.

A long-time member of the Redeemed Christian Church of God, where she rose from worker to Assistant Pastor in 2018, Mrs Tinubu said she has always viewed her political experiences through the lens of her personal devotion to God.

She recalled the backlash she faced within her church community after her husband chose a Muslim-Muslim ticket in 2022, describing it as a “bitter pill.”

She continued, “I became free to write without expecting anything from man, but God.

Also, when the Word of God says we should bless our enemies, not curse them, and do good to those who persecute us, and despitefully use us.

“Also, that whatsoever we do, we should do unto the Lord, that with whatever you measure unto others, God will measure back to you. I am at peace, doing all I can to make Nigeria better and greater.”