Atiku Abubakar

Atiku Abubakar (born 25 November 1946) is a Nigerian politician and businessman from Jada, Adamawa State, belonging to the Fulani ethnic group. His father, Garba Abubakar, was a Fulani trader and farmer, while his mother, Aisha Kande, came from the Kande clan. He was named after his paternal grandfather, Atiku Abdulqadir, who migrated from Wurno, Sokoto State, to Kojoli village in Jada. His maternal grandfather, Inuwa Dutse, migrated from Dutse, Jigawa State, to Jada. He became the only surviving child after his sister died in infancy.

Atiku’s father opposed Western education, but after his father was jailed for non-attendance, Atiku enrolled in Jada Primary School in 1957. He attended Adamawa Provincial Secondary School, graduating in 1965 with a grade in the West African Senior School Certificate Examination. He briefly studied at the Nigeria Police College in Kaduna but left due to lack of O-Level Mathematics results.

He worked as a Tax Officer in the Regional Ministry of Finance before gaining admission to the School of Hygiene in Kano in 1966, graduating with a Diploma in 1967. He later enrolled for a Law Diploma at Ahmadu Bello University Institute of Administration on a scholarship, graduating in 1969.

During the Nigerian Civil War, Abubakar joined the Nigeria Customs Service, retiring in April 1989. Before retirement, he worked in real estate, agriculture, and logistics, founding Intels Nigeria Limited, an oil servicing business, Adama Beverages Limited, an animal feed factory, and the American University of Nigeria (AUN), the first American-style private university in Sub-Saharan Africa.

Abubakar entered politics in the early 1980s, supporting Bamanga Tukur’s governorship bid. He later joined the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) in 1998 and won the 1998 Adamawa State governorship election. He was selected as Olusegun Obasanjo’s running mate in the 1999 presidential election, serving as Vice President from 1999 to 2007.

He ran for President six times unsuccessfully: 1993 (SDP), 2007 (ACN), 2011 (PDP), 2015 (APC), 2019 (PDP), and 2023 (PDP), where he came second behind Bola Tinubu. In 2022, Abubakar was chosen as the PDP presidential candidate for the 2023 election after defeating Nyesom Wike in the primaries. He lost the general election, receiving 6,984,520 votes (29.1%) and was defeated by Bola Tinubu.

In 2025, Atiku left the PDP to join the African Democratic Congress (ADC) alongside Peter Obi, aiming to form a united opposition front against the All Progressives Congress (APC) for the 2027 presidential election. A vocal advocate for True Federalism, Atiku emphasizes state autonomy over resources, particularly in the South-South and South-East regions.

He has emphasized the importance of education, founding the American University of Nigeria (AUN) and advocating for teacher training and scholarships for Chibok schoolgirls’ escapees. Politically, Atiku has been a key figure in Nigeria’s political landscape, serving as a vice president, running multiple presidential campaigns, and advocating for federalism and education reform.

His personal life includes four wives and 28 children, with his current spouse being Amina Titi Atiku-Abubakar.