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By Oscar Okhifo
Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar on Monday denied reports that he has quit active politics, describing the claim as “fake news” and a deliberate attempt to mislead the public.
In a statement issued on Monday by his media office, Atiku said a decision as significant as exiting politics could not be communicated through rumours or faceless sources.
“An issue as fundamental and consequential as exiting active politics cannot, and would never, be communicated through rumours, faceless sources, or third-party fabrication,” he said.
The 2023 presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) said the claim bore the hallmarks of a coordinated disinformation campaign aimed at misleading the public and dampening opposition momentum.
The statement added, “We wish to state, for the record, that information circulating on social media about a purported meeting of His Excellency in which the former Vice President allegedly decided to step aside and retire from active politics is entirely false and deliberately misleading.”
Atiku, now a chieftain of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), said he has not held any recent meeting with party stakeholders at the national level as claimed in the reports.
“The Waziri Adamawa has not, in recent times, held any such meeting with ADC stakeholders at the national level,” the statement said, noting that his only recent engagement was with party members in Adamawa State last Thursday.
The media office, therefore, urged supporters and Nigerians to disregard the reports, insisting they were misleading and should not distract from ongoing political engagements.