The Miyetti Allah Kautal Hore Fulani may have cast doubt on claim by the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, Atiku Abubakar, that he is of Fulani extraction.
The Fulani cultural association brought into question the tribe Atiku belongs to, after the former Vice President claimed President Muhammadu Buhari is a fake Fulani man allegedly on account of the president’s inability to speak Fulfulde during a campaign rally in Jigawa State.
Reacting to Atiku’s aspersion on Buhari, the National Secretary, Miyetti Allah, Mr Saleh Alhassan, pooh-poohed it and threw doubt on the Adamawa-born politician’s claim of being a Fulani descent.
Alhassan said “The truth of the matter is that, in several places in Adamawa State, they speak Fulfulde. The fact that Atiku speaks Fulfulde doesn’t make him a Fulani man.
“If you look at Atiku physically, he doesn’t carry the biological features of a Fulani man. You look at Atiku and you see the Bantu tribe. He doesn’t belong to the Sudanic tribe.
“Also, we don’t know Atiku’s uncle and all Fulani know their uncles. Have you ever seen Atiku’s uncle? His claim to Fulani background is shrouded in uncertainty because nobody knows his uncles. Buhari’s ‘Fulani-ness’ is not in doubt. His father was an Ardo, a Fulani leader. So, I think it is not an issue.”
