The presidential candidate of the PDP, Atiku Abubakar, has faced questions over his state of mind and mental fitness after his daughter, Ms Hauwa Abubakar, alleged in an astonishing expose that he was under a spell cast by his first wife, Titi Abubakar.
The developing story, which bears all the trappings of a dramatic family feud unbecoming of a man seeking the nation’s highest office, came as Hauwa took to the internet to reveal the alleged occultic practices of Mrs Titi Abubakar whom she accused of keeping a tight leash on the former Vice President.
Hauwa said Titi was in the habit of consulting marabouts and carrying out disturbing ritual practices, including animal sacrifices, in a bid to maintain her influence in the sprawling Atiku family which includes numerous other wives and 34 children.
She described Titi as a scheming megalomaniac with plans to gain the power of the presidency through an ailing Atiku. This was as Titi stepped up her campaign for her husband through controversial interviews where she based her appeal on the need for the country to have a ‘Yoruba First Lady’.
Many frowned at the attempt to ethnicize the ceremonial office of the First Lady and described Titi’s actions as indicative of a desperate bid for power, even as the side-kick to a candidate burdened by corruption allegations and an internal party feud over his refusal to honour a power rotation agreement.
Titi Abubakar has yet to respond to Hauwa’s damaging allegations, although she appeared to have abandoned the ‘Yoruba First Lady’ talking point following public condemnation and mockery.
Hauwa’s allegations add to widespread insinuations about Atiku’s purported dalliance with spiritual healers and local diviners in contravention of the principles of his declared faith, Islam.
The former Vice President’s obsession with the presidency, having been gunning for the position since the beginning of Nigeria’s fourth republic, was allegedly motivated by a prophecy he received from a Cameroonian diviner that he would one day preside over the country.
Several Nigerians have disparaged the former Vice President’s failure to control his domestic affairs, with many expressing doubts and fears about his reported involvement in ritualistic practices and what that may bode for the country if he is elected.