Nigeria’s former Vice President and 2023 presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar has explained why there is a discrepancy between his current name and the name on his Senior School Certificate Examination (SSCE) certificate.
Speaking on Wednesday in reaction to the allegations about forging his certificate, Atiku said both Siddiq and Atiku are names that Prophet Muhammad gave to his bosom friend, Caliph Abubakar, adding that Siddiq and Atiku are names that have a historical link to one person in Islamic theology.
According to him, contrary to what some people want Nigerians to believe, there is no difference between Atiku Abubakar and Sadiq Abubakar.
The PDP flagbearer added that he has all the documents linked with his official change of name and the camp of President Bola Tinubu is only trying to milk the situation for their political gain and sentiment.
Atiku made the submission in a statement on Wednesday signed by his media adviser, Paul Ibe.
According to him, he welcomes the inquiries into his background and unlike Tinubu, he has nothing to hide, adding that he has the original certificates of the affidavits regarding his name change.
The statement reads: “In the last 24 hours or thereabouts, we have seen an avalanche of trolls on social media and some sections of the mainstream media that seek to query the educational credentials of Atiku Abubakar.
“We acknowledge these inquiries as being healthy because they seek to probe the truth.
“We also notice that a lot of those who engage on the issue are supporters and aides of President Bola Tinubu.
“Quite a number of their engagements suggest presenting a duality of allegations of forgery that put Atiku Abubakar at a parallel with the forgery committed by President Tinubu in his documentations to the Independent National Electoral Commission.
“To start with, Atiku Abubakar wrote his WAEC examination in 1968 with the name Siddiq Abubakar.
“Every elementary student of Islamic civilization will not find it hard to decipher that both Siddiq and Atiku are names that Prophet Muhammad (SAW) gave to his bosom friend, Caliph Abubakar. Therefore, Siddiq and Atiku are names that have a historical link to one person in Islamic theology.
“Atiku Abubakar, knowing full well the importance of proper documentation, went ahead in 1973, more than 50 years ago to depose to an affidavit that he would wish to be known officially as Atiku Abubakar and still keeps the original copy of that affidavit up to this day.
“The meticulousness that has been displayed by Atiku in this instance shows an example of an upright man.”
The statement urged President Tinubu to follow the steps of Atiku and explain details regarding his background which have been shrouded in secrecy for several years.
“However, while it has only taken Atiku less than 24 hours to come out with full disclosure on his public records, President Tinubu has lived behind the veil for more than half of a century.
“Since 1970 when President Tinubu came under public record to have falsified his academic credentials by claiming to have graduated from a school that was nonexistent, the narrative of his public profile continues to get dirty and messier by the turn of every decade.
“The latest in the rigmarole of President Tinubu’s life of forgeries and falsification of documents is the recent declaration by the Chicago State University that it is not the issuer of the certificate that Nigeria’s president presented to INEC in the run up to the 2023 presidential election – an act that constitutionally disqualifies the offender from the election.
“It is thus in this note that we call on President Tinubu to follow the example of Atiku Abubakar by coming before Nigerians and the world to explain how he got about his name, his educational background, the history of his early years, the true owner of the Southwest College transcript with which he got admission to the CSU, why he refused to go and retake his pre-qualifying examination for the admission and, more importantly, how he came about the discredited and forged certificate of the Chicago State University that he submitted to INEC.
“If President Tinubu refuses to take the lead set by Atiku, Nigerians and the world will forever judge him through a popular Yoruba proverb translation that says: “the upright walk on the straight path, only the crooked beat corners,” the statement added.