Atiku Abubakar, the 2019 presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) is not a Fulani by tribe, a chieftain of the opposition party has said.
Mr Abubakar, a former vice president, is believed to hail from the Fulani tribe. The PDP candidate also tried playing the tribal politics when he went to campaign in some Northern States.
He had tribally criticised President Muhammadu Buhari who at the time sought a second term in office on the platform of the All Progressive Congress (APC).
Widely known as Atiku, the former vice president said the incumbent Nigerian leader is not an authentic Fulani.
“A real Fulani man would not drag his followers into extreme poverty like what is happening under the All Progressives Congress administration,” the PDP candidate said when he visited Jigawa State to sell his candidacy to the people.
Atiku lost the election to Buhari who began his second term last week and has since approached the tribunal challenging the outcome of the exercise.
A new twist has been added as a former Aviation Minister, Femi Fani-Kayode, has insisted that the PDP candidate is not from the Fulani tribe.
Mr Fani-Kayode made the claim on Wednesday while warning Bola Tinubu, national leader of the APC, about the latter’s alliance with the Buhari administration.
Femi Fani-Kayode, former Aviation Minister.“Every single notable leader from the SW that formed an alliance with the Fulani ended up regretting it and paying a price,” the PDP chieftain said in a tweet.
“From Afonja, to Akintola, to Fani-Kayode, to Awolowo (during the civil war) to Abiola, to Bola Ige and to Obasanjo. Can’t Tinubu learn from history?” he queried.
Responding to his tweet, a twitter user queried why the former minister campaigned for Atiku who is also a Fulani if he has learnt any lesson from alliance he formed with people from the tribe.
“@realFFK you haven’t shown us you’ve learnt any lesson though, you’re one of the people who champion AtikuFulani,” @Atomblessing001 reminded him.
In his response, the former minister claimed the former vice president is from Chamba tribe and not a Fulani.
“Though he was brought up in the palace of the Lamido of Adamawa, @atiku is not a Fulani but a Chamba. Do the research,” Fani-Kayode said.
Claims of where Atiku hails from was recently brought to the front burner prior to this year’s general election. Nnamdi Kanu, the leader of the proscribed Indigenous People Of Biafra (IPOB) had claimed the PDP candidate is from Cameroon and not a Nigerian.
The APC took the claim to the Presidential Election Tribunal praying the former vice president be disqualified for not being a Nigerian.
