Nigeria: Atiku Defends Name Change From Siddiq

16 October 2023

Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate in the last presidential election, Atiku Abubakar, has again risen in stout defence of his name from Siddiq Abubakar to Atiku Abubakar.

Like he did before yesterday, Atiku said he followed due process and was not involved in any forgery.

He used the clarification to caution President Bola Tinubu and his handlers to desist from drawing any comparison between them.

Atiku, who said his life had been an open book, accused Tinubu of attempting to minimise the allegations of forgeries against him by seeking to drag him (Atiku) into his matter.

The PDP candidate said Tinubu's handlers smuggled Adekunle, a middle name that magically popped up in his so-called National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) certificate into his Wikipedia on October 6, 2023.

Questions about Atiku's use of Siddiq in one of his academic records emerged shortly after he filed a forgery claim against Tinubu at the Supreme Court in pursuit of his appeal against the outcome of the February 25 election.

Although Atiku said the name belonged to him and that he had a change of name affidavit to show for it, the claims have continued to reverberate.

However, the former vice president in a statement by his media aide, Paul Ibe, claimed, "The world has come to the inevitable conclusion that Tinubu was involved in forgery

Atiku added that the discovery of Tinubu's records at the Chicago State University and the court ordered deposition in the United States is only a tip of the iceberg that has been the litany of his forgeries and lies.

"The attempt by Bola A. Tinubu to drag Atiku Abubakar into his drowning arena of forgery must be seen for what it is: an attempt to minimise the allegations of forgeries that he has to contend with.

"Contrary to Bola A. Tinubu's forgery shopping allegation against Atiku, it is on record that the change of name of the former Vice President reverting to Atiku Abubakar from Siddiq Abubakar is well documented in an affidavit dated 18th of August 1973, spanning over a period of 50 years, (which incidentally is as old as the commencement of Tinubu's life of forgeries and lies), is in the public domain.

"It has been established that he only attended CSU and that he secured admission into the university by impersonation," he said.

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