Atiku Abubakar is one of the contestants in the Nigeria 2023 general elections. Daily News24 brings you a biography of the politician.
From 1999 to 2007, Atiku Abubakar served as Nigeria’s 11th Vice President. He’s a politician, entrepreneur, and philanthropist. In 2019, he ran for President of Nigeria on the People’s Democratic Party ticket (PDP) but lost to Muhammadu Buhari of the All Progressive Congress (APC)
Early life and education
Atiku Abubakar was born on November 25, 1946, in Jada, a village under British Cameroon’s administration at the time; the territory later joined the Federation of Nigeria in the 1961 British Cameroons referendum.
Garba Abubakar, his father, was a Fulani trader and farmer, and Aisha Kande was his mother. He was named after his paternal grandfather, Atiku Abdulqadir, who was born in Wurno, Sokoto State and moved to Jada, Adamawa State.
Abubakar enrolled in Adamawa’s Jada Primary School when he was eight years old. After finishing primary school in 1960, he was admitted to Adamawa Provincial Secondary School that same year, along with 59 other students.
He received a grade three in the West African Senior School Certificate Examination and graduated from secondary school in 1965. Following secondary school, Abubakar attended the Nigeria Police College in Kaduna for a short time.
He received his diploma in 1967 after serving as the Interim Student Union President at the school. On a regional government scholarship, he enrolled in a Law Diploma program at Ahmadu Bello University Institute of Administration in 1967.
Business career
Abubakar worked for the Nigeria Customs Service for twenty years, rising to the position of Deputy Director, the Service’s second highest position at the time; he retired in April 1989 and went into full-time business and politics.
During his early days as a Customs Officer, he got his start in the real estate business, after which he ventured into agriculture. Abubakar is a co-founder of Intels Nigeria Limited, a company that provides oil services in Nigeria and abroad. He is also into the transportation business amongst others.
Political Career
Abubakar made his first foray into politics in the early 1980s, when he worked behind the scenes on the governorship campaign of Bamanga Tukur, the managing director of the Nigeria Ports Authority at the time. He canvassed for votes on Tukur’s behalf and also contributed to the campaign.
In the run-up to the Third Nigerian Republic in 1989, Abubakar was elected National Vice-Chairman of the Peoples Front of Nigeria. Abubakar was elected to represent his constituency in the 1989 Constituent Assembly, which was formed to draft a new Nigerian constitution.
After the 12th of June, and during the General Sani Abacha transition, Abubakar expressed interest in running for the Gubnetorial seat of Adamawa State under the United Nigeria Congress Party.
The transition program ended with General Abacha’s death. Abubakar joined the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in 1998 and was later nominated for Governor of Adamawa State, which he won in the December 1998 governorship elections and subsequently became the vice president of Nigeria when Olusegun Obasanjo was president.
Atiku Abubakar ran unsuccessfully for President of Nigeria five times, in 1993, 2007, 2011, 2015, and 2019. He was a presidential candidate of the Action Congress in the 2007 presidential election coming in third to Umaru Yar’Adua of the PDP and Muhammadu Buhari of the ANPP.
He contested the presidential primaries of the People’s Democratic Party during the 2011 presidential election losing out to incumbent President Goodluck Jonathan.
Traditional titles
Abubakar was appointed Turaki of Adamawa by his future father-in-law, Adamawa’s traditional ruler Alhaji Aliyu Mustafa, in 1982. The title was previously reserved in the palace for the monarch’s favourite prince, as the holder is in charge of the monarch’s domestic affairs. Abubakar was given the chieftaincy title of Waziri of Adamawa in June 2017.
Networth
Atiku Abubakar’s net worth is estimated at around $1.2 Billion
