By Danlami Nmodu
The controversy over the name on the WAEC certificate “belonging” to former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has taken a new twist.Popular social media influencer Abubakar Sidique Usman has raised some questions after flipping through a book authored on atiku by his late spokesman Adinoyi Onukaba-Ojo.
Usman popularly called MrAbuSidiq wrote on his X(former Twitter) handle, recently, “Atiku Abubakar didn’t identify as Sidiq Abubakar, at least up till when he entered secondary school. This very much was corroborated by his then spokesperson, late Adeniyi Onukaba Ojo(sic) in his book, “The Atiku: The story of Atiku Abubakar.”
“According to him, Atiku identified as Atiku Kojoli during his primary education at Jada Primary School and only substituted Kojoli with Abubakar to read ATIKU ABUBAKAR after gaining admission at Adamawa Provincial Secondary School in Yola.
Usman asked: “At what point did the new name “Atiku Abubakar” change to “Sidiq Abubakar” which is the name written on the WAEC certificate presented to INEC and when did “Sidiq Abubakar” change back to Atiku Abubakar, which is now his current and official name?
“Honest question: Who is the Sidiq Abubakar that owns the WAEC certificate presented to INEC? Is it the same Atiku Kojoli/Atiku Abubakar or someone else?
“I have read arguments that anybody who identifies as Abubakar can also identify as Sidiq. This can be very true, but if it’s not your official name, it is not your official name. My parents chose my official names as Abubakar Sidiq and that’s why I use both till date, not because I can be called any or both.
“Besides, I didn’t see anywhere Adinoyi Onukaba Ojo referred to Atiku as Sidiq in his book. He referred him as either Atiku Kojoli or Atiku Abubakar. If you have read the book and you saw where he was referred to as Sidiq, please tell me the page.”
Usman’s posers were among the series of attacks against the former Vice President in the apparent turning of tables over the allegation against President Bola Tinubu.Atiku has championed this case against the President leading amazing revelations by Chicago State University.
Newsdiaryonline reports however that the depositions by CSU official are being interpreted in Nigeria along political lines.Tinubu’s supporters said CSU has confirmed that he attended the University. However Nigerian opposition, especially those sympathetic to Atiku’s efforts say Tinubu forged the certificate he submitted. The BBC has however reported that there is no evidence Tinubu forged his certificate.
Atiku fight back, dismisses forgery allegation
Atiku has actually been making his case loud and clear.The first major intervention was made by one of his spokesmen, Dele Momodu who wrote on Twitter, ““The APC busybodies have been bombarding me with allegations of forgery against my Principal, ALHAJI ATIKU ABUBAKAR (GCON), which I immediately forwarded to him and here is his copious response: ‘Yes I used Sadiq Abubakar to sit for my WAEC and after passing my exams I went to swear an affidavit to say I am the same person as ATIKU Abubakar. I went to ABU as Atiku Abubakar and passed my Exams as Atiku Abubakar. Interviewed as Atiku Abubakar by the Federal Civil Service Commission and hired into the Customs Service as Atiku Abubakar. So where is forgery there?’ – ATIKU ABUBAKAR
“CAN THE APC social media bullies forward the deluge of questions in circulation to their boss and get instant and direct response… I SALUTE ALHAJI ATIKU ABUBAKAR.”
Atiku’s media aide Paul Ibe weighed in this week, saying “”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.
“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.”
