Ethnic Politics: Was Atiku Abubakar Actually Misquoted?

Atiku Abubakar’s unification mantra hit a brick wall following his recent declaration that he is the answer to the yearnings of average northerners.

In this report, we look at whether the ‘complicated’ statement made by the PDP 2023 presidential candidate at the Arewa Joint Committee town hall policy dialogue in Kaduna has been misquoted as maintained by the stakeholders of the party.

What was said

The former vice president told the gathering that “someone from the north” is who an average northerner needs to occupy the presidential seat in 2023.

He added that Nigeria “doesn’t need a Yoruba or Igbo candidate”.

Alhaji Atiku Abubakar hails from Adamawa state. While marketing himself, he informed the congregation that a northerner with a complete understanding of the country and who had built bridges across the board was required to assume leadership of the country after President Muhammadu Buhari.  

“This is what the Northerner needs. It doesn’t need a Yoruba or Igbo candidate. I stand before you as a pan-Nigerian of northern origin,” he stated.

The backlash 

Expectedly, at a time like this, when ethnic sentiment is making headway Atiku’s statement did not go down well with other political parties, social-cultural groups, and Nigerians from other regions.

The APC, the LP, and the New Nigeria People’s Party are some of Atiku’s political competitors that have criticised the statement alongside the Afenifere, who endorsed Peter Obi.

Ohanaeze Ndigbo and other civil society organisations have not spared him either.

Was Atiku Misquoted?

Senator Walid Jibrin, the Former Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Board of Trustees (BoT) is one of the PDP leaders who has said that the statement made by the party’s presidential candidate was misunderstood and quoted out of context.

Atiku’s foot soldiers, defenders and the PDP argue that the party’s two-time presidential candidate is a pan-African married to Yoruba and Igbo wives.

Though reports have it that the former vice president has been married six times, DNB Stories Africa on June 2, 2022,
reported that he has four wives as of 2022.

The wives are Aminat Titilayo Albert Abubakar (1971), Princes Rukaiya Mustafa Abubakar(1983), Fatima Shetima Abubakar and a Moroccan woman whose name is yet to be identified at the time of filing this report due to sources’
desire to conceal her identity.

The fact

The facts indicate that Alhaji Atiku Abubakar did not marry his wives based on tribe. Ethnic balance is the last yardstick that will prompt conjugal bliss at any point. 

Additionally, the scene and the statement made by the presidential aspirant failed the psychoanalytical test compared with the defence.

The first principle of psychoanalysis states that “everything is an utterance and no utterance is innocent. Utterances are always motivated by forms of desire.”

The verdict 

Atiku Abubakar, who has watched a lot of political storms, is not likely to make a vague statement.

He meant what he said. He needed the corporate support of the people at the event, and he used his best words to reach out to them. 

It is also on record how other political candidates for the forthcoming election have made self-acclaiming glorification which political observers have branded as “statements of denegration”.

2023 is upon us. It appears that presidential candidates for the forthcoming election are determined to make the contest an ethnic row.

Written by Yusuf Adua