Abubakar, Atiku

views updated

Atiku Abubakar (ätē´kōō äbōōbäkär´), 1946–, Nigerian politician, grad. Ahmadu Bello Univ. Law School (1969). A Muslim and member of the Hausa ethnic group, he worked in the government's customs department, later going into business. After surviving an assassination attempt in 1995 he left Nigeria for a brief time. He was a founder of the People's Democratic party (PDP), and twice (1999, 2003) was its successful vice presidential candidate. Abubakar broke with President Olusegun Obasanjo and left the PDP in 2006 over Obasanjo's plans to change the constitution to permit a third presidential term. As the Action Congress party candidate, he ran unsuccessfully for president in 2007; the election was marked by significant irregularites. In 2009 he rejoined the PDP and later (2010) announced his candidacy for the 2011 presidential election, but the PDP chose President Goodluck Jonathan as its candidate. In 2013 Abubakar joined with several governors and other politicians to break with the PDP; he subsequently joined (2014) the opposition All Progressives Congress.

About this article

Abubakar, Atiku

Updated About encyclopedia.com content Print Article