Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has promised to prioritise the interests of the Yoruba in his administration’s policies if he is elected president in 2027.
Atiku made the vow in a statement issued by his media consultant, Kola Johnson, on Thursday, September 25, 2025.
The former vice president dismissed fears that his presidency could lead to Hausa/Fulani domination over the Yoruba or any other ethnic group.
“The entire Yoruba stock is my larger extended family and in-laws,” Atiku said, stressing that his personal and marital ties to the Yoruba made such concerns unfounded.
He recalled that his first marriage was to Titi, an Ijesha-born Yoruba woman, whom he married in the 1970s.
The couple has four children together.
Atiku said: “In case you don’t know or have forgotten, I was married to my first wife, Titi, a Yoruba woman, in the 70s, and we have four Yoruba 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. I am extremely in love with my children and serve as a good father to them, as I urge every father to do the same.”
Describing his wife as his “Jewel of Inestimable Value,” the former vice president said Yoruba people have always been among his closest friends and political allies.
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“Anyone who knows me will tell you with all sincerity that, as a person, I am naturally a highly detribalised person. Even before I ventured into politics, I flowed easily and effortlessly with people of diverse tribes, ethnicity, religion and whatever sectarian differences,” he added.
Atiku promised that the South-West would be central to his administration’s policymaking if elected president.
“It is also for this reason that the interest of the Yorubas will always occupy a topmost place in my policymaking and governance if, by the special grace of Allah, I am lucky to be president in 2027,” he stated.
Atiku, who was the runner-up in the last general election won by President Bola Tinubu, is seeking to challenge Tinubu again in the 2027 presidential poll.
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