The Mayor of Urhoboland and business mogul, Eshanekpe Israel better known as Akpodoro has expressed concern over of the fate of the former Vice President, Alahaji Atiku Abubakar, who was reportedly stripped of his title, the Waziri Adamawa.
Akpodoro who is the head, Association of Urhobo Mayoral Family Crown, AUMFC made this known in a statement issued in his Ughelli Mayoral Palace by his Special Assistant on Media, Austin Oyibode, saying the withdrawal of the Wazirin Adamawa title from the former vice president calls for concern by well-meaning Nigerians who are lovers of tradition and culture.
The Presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP at the 2023 general elections was conferred with the title in 2017 by the Adamawa State traditional institution lamenting that such act was to say the least shameful for a man of the person of a former vice president status, stressing that the time has come the politician to come out clean over his true identity.
The Mayor’s image maker noted that for Alhaji Atiku who was once a custom officer who rose through the ranks and retired as a Custom chief his current travail as brought up him by the Adamawa State Governor is to say the least humiliating for one preparing to challenge the incumbent President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, in 2027 through a political coalition.
Akpodoro noted that the plight of the former vice president calls for empathy and sober reflection on the part of Mr Atiku who he recalled has been battling stigma of suspicions of not being a Nigerian as he called on the politician to come out clean on his paternity.
He said as a top-notch politician in the country “for the sake of posterity, Nigerians deserve to know where their former vice president actually hails from.”
Recall that Abubakar was stripped of his revered title as Wazirin Adamawa following a directive by the Adamawa State Government stating that all traditional council members and title holders must be indigenes of their respective chiefdoms
A circular dated June 20, 2025, signed by the Permanent Secretary of the Department of Chieftaincy Affairs, stated that the new rule affects all Emirates in the State. Since Atiku hails from Jada LGA, part of Ganye Chiefdom, he is no longer eligible to hold a title he has held since 2017 in the Adamawa Emirate.
The development, according to the Mayor, paints the 2023 Peoples Democratic Party, PDP presidential candidate in bad light as he called on him to explain to Nigerians where he hails from for posterity sake.
“Nigerian public are worried over the current dilemma that our former vice president found himself. He was once in court over his paternity, and now his own state government has withdrawn his title, and this raises more questions about the indigenisation of Mr Atiku.
“We expect him to talk to his followers to put this thorny issue to rest once and for all. Having contested and lost several presidential elections bid, he owns it a duty to talk to those who believe in his leadership,” the Mayor stated.
