"Nigeria sits on many time bombs, but the deadliest time bomb of all is that of youth unemployment."

-Bola Tinubu, Feb 26 2014. Ibadan. First All Progressives Governors Annual Lecture

"No nation has ever survived a religious war... This is why the current religiously divisive politics our current leaders are playing will not augur well for our body politic. Religion has been elevated to a point where it is now used as a tool to curry and win votes.. We must resist leaders who appeal to our religious sentiments because they want our votes."

-Tinubu at the Inauguration of Overcomers Ministry Church in Lagos, March 22, 2014

"Everyone claims to be democratic but not everyone is faithful to his or her word. Herein lies the rub, liberal governments have become adept in exploiting the visible procedural and institutional trappings of democracy without adopting the democratic spirit that gives these procedures and institutions their noble meaning."

-At the Woodrow Wilson Center, Washington, DC. August 2012.

"I do not support the Jonathan government but I oppose anyone seeking its premature, illegal end. Let this government end at the appointed time. But let it end through the ballot box. Then I shall say good riddance".

-At the House of Parliament, London as part of a conference convened by the British African Diaspora conference. June 10th, 2013

"In a democracy, the vote gives the ruler the authority to use power. But legitimacy is supreme because it is the voters' acceptance that the ruler has authority over him or her. Legitimacy, therefore, translates to mass goodwill and cooperation with the government of the day and yielding to its directions".

-Ensuring peaceful elections in a democratic society, 25 March 2009, Main Auditorium, University of Lagos.