Former Vice President Atiku Abubakarand EFCC’s pioneer chairman Nuhu Ribadu are sworn enemies—on the face of it. But somehow their paths have been crossing outside of politics thanks to their children intermarrying.
Soon, the two Adamawa politicians will become fathers-in-law on Saturday as Atiku’s son Aliyu will be marrying Ribadu’s daughter Fatima in this Covid-19 era.
Atiku was also guest of honour at the wedding of Ribadu’s sons recently.
While their political enmity is not permanent, their interest, for their children’s love’s sake, is.
The two have been avoiding one another in both the PDP and APC since 2015. Their feud apparently stemmed from the anti-corruption war Ribadu, goaded by his boss ex-President Olusegun Obasanjo, waged against Atiku between 2003 and 2007.
The commission then unearthed series of sleazy dealing involving Atiku and foreign companies in the celebrated Halliburton and Siemens scandals, among others.
The two have never made up politically ever since, even when they were both in the APC, before Ribadu hopped into the PDP, and later back to the APC when Atiku crept back to the PDP.