Publisher and former presidential aspirant Dele Momodu has said he would strongly support President Bola Tinubu if the administration consistently upheld the democratic principles they fought for during Nigeria’s military era.

Speaking in an interview on Arise Television on Thursday, Momodu said his criticism of Tinubu was rooted in concerns about governance, not personal animosity.

“I will ordinarily swim to the depth of the Atlantic Ocean for Tinubu if he was practising what we fought for when we were fighting the military,” Momodu said. “I would be a hypocrite if we replaced military dictatorship with civilian dictatorship. That’s my only problem with him.”

Momodu said he still holds Tinubu in high regard and has deliberately avoided personal attacks on the President despite criticising some of his policies.

According to him, Tinubu was one of the political figures who mentored him and encouraged him to challenge the establishment during Nigeria’s pro-democracy struggle.

“He was one of those who trained me and instilled in me the discipline to take on the establishment and win,” Momodu said, adding that Tinubu’s political success in Lagos helped build his national reputation.

Momodu and Tinubu were both active in the campaign against military rule in the 1990s. Tinubu was a founding member of the National Democratic Coalition (NADECO), while Momodu worked for the late Moshood Abiola’s presidential campaign and later went into exile following the military crackdown on pro-democracy activists.

Although the two have publicly disagreed since Tinubu became president in 2023, Momodu said his criticisms remain focused on protecting democratic values rather than attacking the President personally.

The Ovation magazine publisher, who contested the 2011 presidential election under the National Conscience Party, is now aligned with the African Democratic Congress and has become a prominent opposition voice ahead of the 2027 general election.