Atiku Vows to Safeguard Yoruba Interests if Elected President

Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has assured that Yoruba interests will remain a priority in his administration’s policies if he is elected president in 2027.

Addressing concerns about ethnic domination, Atiku dismissed suggestions that his leadership would favour Hausa/Fulani interests over those of the Yoruba or other groups. He stressed that his personal and family ties to the South-West made such fears misplaced.

“The Yoruba people are my extended family and in-laws,” Atiku said in a statement released on Thursday in Abuja by his media consultant, Kola Johnson.

He recalled his marriage to his first wife, Titi, an Ijesha-born Yoruba woman, in the 1970s, noting that they share four children together. “She is now over 75 years old, and we are still together. My children with Titi sometimes call me ‘Baba Rere’, meaning good father,” he added.

Atiku described his wife as his “Jewel of Inestimable Value” and emphasised that the Yoruba had always been central to his personal life, political alliances, and friendships.

“It is for this reason that the interests of the Yoruba will always occupy a topmost place in my policymaking and governance, if, by the special grace of Allah, I am elected president in 2027,” he declared.

He maintained that he has always related with people across ethnic and religious lines without prejudice. “Anyone who knows me will attest that I am naturally detribalised. Long before politics, I related easily with people of diverse tribes, religions, and backgrounds,” Atiku said.

The former vice president, a long-time presidential aspirant, is preparing to contest against President Bola Tinubu in the 2027 elections.