Aside from being the second vice-president of Nigeria to be elected, not many people know much about Atiku Abubakar’s personal life.

The 69-year-old politician spent 20 years in the Nigeria Customs Service, where he worked his way up to become the deputy director. In April 1989, he retired to focus on politics full time.

But besides all these “butterflies” about the graduate of Ahmadu Bello University, not many people know what his home front looks like. From his five wives, he is said to have had 26 children. In the book “Atiku: The Story of Atiku Abubakar,” the former vice president talks about why he chose to marry more than one woman when he was young. Atiku said, “I wanted to grow the family of Abubakar. As a child, I felt very alone. I didn’t have any brothers or sisters. I didn’t want my kids to feel as isolated as I did. Because of this, I had more than one wife. My wives are my brothers, sisters, friends, and counselors, and they help each other out.

Atiku Abubakar married Amina Titi Abubakar in secret at the Ikoyi registry in Lagos, Nigeria, in December 1971, when he was only 25 years old. At first, Amina’s family was against the marriage, so Atiku had to do it in secret.

In January 1979 he married Ladi Atiku Abubakar. In 1983, he married Princess Rukaiyatu Atiku Abubakar, who was the daughter of the late Lamido of Adamawa. She was his third wife. In 1986, he married his fourth wife, Fatima Atiku Abubakar. He later got a divorce from Ladi, which let him marry Jennifer Iwenjora, who later changed her name to Jamila Atiku-Abubakar, as his fourth wife

The first wife had four kids: Fatima, Adamu, Halima, and Aminu. The second wife, Hajia Ladi, has six kids: Abba, Atiku, Zainab, Ummi, Mariam, and Rukayatu. Princess Rukaiyat, Lamido Adamawa’s third wife and mother of his 13th child, gave birth to seven children: Aisha, Hadiza, Aliyu, Asmau, Mustafa, Laila, and Abdulsalaam. Hajia Fatima has six kids: Amina, Mohammed, Ahmed and Shehu, Aisha and Zainab, and two sets of twins, Shehu and Ahmed. Abdulmalik, Zahra, and Faisal are Hajia Jamila’s three children.

Recently, the politician and businessman from the All Progressives Congress (APC) married off three of his daughters on the same day.

Why Does Atiku Abubakar Have 26 Children

In the book “Atiku: The Story of Atiku Abubakar,” the former Vice President of Nigeria talks about why he chose to marry more than one woman when he was young. Atiku said, “I wanted to grow the family of Abubakar. As a child, I felt very alone. I didn’t have any brothers or sisters. I didn’t want my kids to feel as isolated as I did. Because of this, I had more than one wife. My wives are my brothers, sisters, friends, and counselors, and they help each other out.

Atiku Abubakar married his first wife, Amina Titi Abubakar, in secret at the Ikoyi registry in Lagos, Nigeria, in December 1971, when he was only 25 years old. At the time, Amina’s family didn’t agree with the marriage, so Atiku had to keep it a secret. In January 1979, he married Ladi Atiku Abubakar, who was his second wife. Princess Rukaiyatu Atiku Abubakar, who was the daughter of the late Lamido of Adamawa, became his third wife in 1983.

In 1986, he married Fatima Atiku Abubakar, who was his fourth wife. Later, he got a divorce from his second wife, Ladi, and married Jennifer Iwenjora, who became Jamila Atiku Abubakar when she became a Muslim.

Atiku Abubakar’s first wife gave birth to four children: Fatima, Adamu, Halima, and Aminu. His second wife, Hajia Ladi, has six children: Abba, Atiku, Zainab, Ummi, Mariam, and Rukayatu. Princess Rukaiyat, Atiku Abubakar’s third wife, had seven children: Aisha, Hadiza, Aliyu, Asmau, Mustafa, Laila, and Abdulsalaam.

Princess Rukaiyat is also the 13th child of Lamido Adamawa, who is his third wife. Atiku Abubakar’s fourth wife, Hajia Fatima, has given birth to six children: Amina, Mohammed, Ahmed and Shehu, Aisha and Zainab, and two sets of twins, Ahmed and Shehu. Hajia Jamila, who is Atiku Abubakar’s fifth wife, has three kids: Abdulmalik, Zahra, and Faisal.