Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has assured Nigerians that the interest of the Yoruba people will occupy a topmost place in his administration’s policies if he is elected President in the 2027 general election.

Atiku made this promise in a statement released on Thursday in Abuja by his media consultant, Kola Johnson, stressing that fears of Hausa/Fulani domination under his leadership were completely unfounded. He described the Yoruba as an integral part of his family and personal life, citing his decades-long marital and social ties to the South-West.

“The entire Yoruba stock is my larger extended family and in-laws,” Atiku said, adding that his first marriage to Titi, an Ijesha-born Yoruba woman, binds him deeply to the region. “I count myself extremely lucky indeed to have had a wife from amongst this noble species of the human race, which by this token implies that the bond uniting me together with the Yoruba is aptly like the genetic bond of a family.”

Atiku recalled marrying Titi in the 1970s and revealed that the couple has four children together. “She is now over 75 years old, and we are still together. My children with Titi sometimes call me Baba Rere, meaning ‘good father’. I am extremely in love with my children and serve as a good father to them, as I urge every father to do the same to their children,” he added warmly.

The former vice president, who was the runner-up in the 2023 presidential election, emphasized that his personal relationships and political history prove that he is detribalised and inclusive. “Anyone who knows me will tell you with all sincerity that, as a person, I am naturally a highly detribalised person. Even before I ventured into politics, I flowed easily and effortlessly with people of diverse tribes, ethnicity, religion, and whatever sectarian differences,” Atiku said.

He further declared that if elected in 2027, the South-West will be central to his policymaking, assuring Yoruba voters that their interests will always remain a priority. “It is also for this reason that the interest of the Yorubas will always occupy a topmost place in my policymaking and governance if, by the special Grace of Allah, I am lucky to be president in 2027,” he promised.

Atiku described his wife, Titi, as his “Jewel of Inestimable Value,” adding that the Yoruba have always been among his closest allies both personally and politically. He urged Nigerians to judge him by his record and personal experience rather than by ethnic narratives.

Atiku Abubakar, a long-time presidential hopeful, is expected to challenge President Bola Ahmed Tinubu in the 2027 presidential election. His latest remarks are seen as a strategic move to strengthen his support base in the South-West as the political race begins to heat up.