Biography of ex-VP Atiku Abubakar, career, achievements, net worth

In this post, News360 Nigeria documents the biography and career achievements of Atiku Abubakar.

Atiku Abubakar is a Nigerian politician and businessman who has served as Vice President under former President Olusegun Obasanjo.

He was the Presidential candidate of the People’s Democratic Party for the 2023 general elections.

Profile overview

Name: Atiku Abubakar (GCON)

Date of birth: 25th November,1946

Place of birth: Jada, Adamawa state, Nigeria

Education: Ahmadu Bello University

Religion: Islam

Career: Politician, businessman

Political Party: People’s Democratic Party (PDP)

Marital status: Married

Background

Atiku Abubakar was born in Jada, a village in Adamawa state, on November 25, 1946.

His father was a Fulani trader named Garba Abubakar, and his mother was Aisha Kande. After his sister died, he became his parents’ only son.

Due to his father’s opposition to Western education, he began his early education at Jada Primary School in Adamawa until 1960, when he was admitted to Adamawa Provincial Secondary School and graduated in 1965.

Abubakar attended the Nigeria Police College in Kaduna after graduating from secondary school.

He left the College because he could not present an O-Level Mathematics result and briefly worked as a Tax Officer in the Regional Ministry of Finance.

He was then admitted to Kano’s School of Hygiene in 1966 and graduated with a Diploma in 1967, having previously served as Interim Student Union President.

On a regional government scholarship, he enrolled in the Ahmadu Bello University Institute of Administration to pursue a Law Diploma that same year.

He joined the Nigeria Customs Service after graduating in 1969, during the Nigerian Civil War.

Abubakar graduated from Anglia Ruskin University with his Master’s degree in International Relations in 2021.

Career

He began his career as a civil servant and businessman before transitioning to politics.

He spent 20 years with the Nigeria Customs Service and rose to the position of Deputy Director.

While working as a Customs Officer, Atiku founded a real estate company.

He finished his first house in Yola and rented it out using a N31, 000 loan. The proceeds from his first house were used to construct his second house. Atiku currently owns several properties in Yola.

Atiku also ventured into agriculture in 1981, purchasing 2,500 hectares of land to start a maize and cotton farm.

Unfortunately, the company folded in 1986. However, Atiku, with a relentless attitude, began selling rice, flour, and sugar.

Atiku received a major business opportunity when Gabrielle Volpi, an Italian businessman in Nigeria, invited him to establish Nigeria Container Services (NICOTES), a logistics company. Meanwhile, Atiku remained a civil servant with the Nigeria Customs Service.

This resulted in accusations of conflict of interest against him because it is illegal for an active civil servant to engage in another business.

However, Atiku was able to defend himself by stating that he only owned a portion of the company’s shares and was not involved in the day-to-day operations. NICOTES has now been renamed INTELS.

He also owns Adama Beverages Limited, a Yola-based beverage company, a microfinance bank, and a number of other businesses.

Politics

He retired from civil service in 1989 to pursue a career in business and politics.

During Bamanga Tukur’s governorship campaign, Abubakar worked from behind the scenes. During Bamanga Tukur’s governorship campaign, Abubakar worked secretly.

After that, Atiku met Shehu Musa Yar’Adua, the second-in-command of Nigeria’s military government from 1976 to 1979.

Abubakar eventually became the national vice-chairman of the People’s Front of Nigeria.

Yar’Adua led the association, which was in charge of ensuring the success of the transition program launched by Ibrahim Babangida, the then-President.

Other politicians on the team included Babalola Borishade, Bola Tinubu, Rabiu Kwankwaso, Aliyu Sumaila, and Sabo Bakin Zuwo.

Atiku was chosen to represent his constituency in the Constituent Assembly, which was established in 1989 to draft a new Nigerian constitution.

Regretfully, The People’s Front was unable to obtain government registration; however, they managed to secure a position within the Social Democratic Party.

Before the 1991 election could take place, the federal government split Gongola state into Adamawa and Taraba states. In 1990, Atiku declared his intention to run for governor of Gongola state.

Abubakar became a part of Adamawa state.

Luckily, he emerged victorious in the SDP primaries held in November 1991; however, he was unable to compete in the election.

He ran for and was elected governor of Adamawa State in 1998 under the banner of the People’s Democratic Party.

But prior to being sworn in, he agreed to serve as Olusegun Aremu Obasanjo’s running mate in the PDP.

On May 29, 1999, Atiku took the oath of office as Nigeria’s vice president.

He collaborated with South Africa’s Deputy President, Jacob Zuma, to establish the South Africa Nigeria Binational Commission.

He clashed with President Olusegun Obasanjo in 2006 over his plans to amend the constitution, allowing him to run for president for the third time.
This irritated Atiku, and the argument harmed rather than helped their relationship.

Abubakar ran for Nigeria’s presidential office in 1992 under the Social Democratic Party, finishing third in the convention primaries behind MKO Abiola and Babagana Kinigbe.

On December 20, 2006, the Action Congress (AC) chose Atiku as its presidential candidate. The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) then omitted Atiku’s name from the final list of 24 presidential candidates for the April 21 elections.

His name appears to have been omitted because a government-appointed panel identified him as one of Nigeria’s corrupt individuals.

Atiku finished third in the election, trailing Umaru Musa Yar’Adua, the PDP candidate, and Muhammadu Buhari, the ANPP candidate.

He also ran for president in the 2011 elections. This time, under the PDP. He did, however, lose in the primaries to President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan.

In 2018, Atiku announced his intention to run for President of Nigeria under the PDP banner. At the party’s convention on October 7, he was declared the nominee.

Along with defeating other candidates, he received 1,532 votes, 839 more than Sokoto State Governor Aminu Tambuwal. On February 27, 2019, he unfortunately lost to President Buhari.

In 2022, Atiku Abubakar was declared the PDP’s presidential candidate for the 2023 elections; however, Bola Ahmed Tinubu of the All Progressive Congress (APC) won the general election.

Private life

Atiku, a Muslim who grew up alone with no siblings to play with, married four wives and has 28 children.

He met his first wife, Titilayo Albert, when she was 19 years old at Idi-Iroko and married her in secret in December 1971. Titilayo’s four children are Fatima, Adamu, Halima, and Aminu.

He married Ladi Yakubu, his second wife, in January 1979. Ladi had six children: Atiku, Abba, Zainab, Ummi-Hauwa, Maryam, and Rukaiyatu.

Atiku Abubakar together with his family

His third wife is Princess Rukaiyatu, the daughter of the late Lamido of Adamawa, whom he married in 1983. Princess Rukaiyatu had seven children: Aisha, Hadiza, Aliyu, Asmau, Mustafa, Laila, and Abdulsalam.

In 1986, he married Fatima Shettima, his fourth wife. She has five children: Amina, Mohammed, two sets of twins, Ahmed and Shehu, Zainab and Aisha, and her youngest daughter, Hafsat.

Atiku eventually divorced Ladi Yakubu and married Jennifer Iwenjiora Doughlas, a lawyer.

Awards

Atiku Abubakar has received numerous honors and accolades from around the world. Amongst them are;

Chieftaincy title of the Turaki of Adamawa by Adamawa’s traditional ruler Alhaji Aliyu Mustafa in 1982.

Chieftaincy title of the Waziri of Adamawa in 2017.

He was given an international Harris Wofford Global Citizen Award by US Peace Corps in 2011.

Net Worth

He is a successful businessman and politician with an estimated net worth of $1.8 billion.