Report Of Meeting To Step Down For Southern Candidate Fake — Atiku

Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has declared as fake, a purported meeting where he was reportedly pressured to step down for a candidate of Southern origin ahead of the 2027 general elections.

Atiku made the clarification while reacting to inquiries from journalists and concerned Nigerians regarding a meeting where he was said to have rejected calls to step down for a presidential candidate of southern extraction.

Atiku, who said he was compelled to set the record straight, described such a meeting as “phantom” just as he accused the President Bola Tinubu-led All Progressive Congress (APC) administration of cooking up the propaganda.

The 2023 presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), in a statement by his media team said, “There was no such meeting. Atiku Abubakar was never in attendance. The entire story is a malicious fabrication — pure fiction cooked up in the propaganda kitchens of the Tinubu-led APC regime.”

Describing the report as false, laughable and desperate, the former VP described the report as a diversionary tactic by a “faltering administration to sow discord within the opposition ranks and derail the momentum gained by the successful unveiling of the ADC as the coalition’s political vehicle.”

The former vice president said no amount of propaganda, planted stories, or faceless briefings will fracture the resolve of the opposition coalition.

“We are united, focused, and determined to rescue Nigeria from the clutches of this rudderless government.

“We want to remind the ruling party that Nigerians have already embraced the ADC as the most credible and viable opposition platform ahead of 2027. The massive and growing support that the ADC continues to enjoy across the country is not just encouraging – it is a clear signal that the Tinubu administration is living on borrowed time.

“We call on Nigerians and the media to treat the so-called “statement” with the contempt it deserves. It bears no attribution, no credibility, and no truth,” he said.