Atiku Abubakar says claims he retired from politics are false, warning the reports are part of disinformation campaigns.
Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has denied circulating reports suggesting he “stepped aside and retired from active politics,” describing the claims as “entirely false and deliberately misleading.”
In a statement released on Monday through his Media Office, Atiku clarified that the only recent political engagement he had was with African Democratic Congress (ADC) stakeholders in Adamawa State last Thursday, not at the national level, as some reports suggested.
The statement read, “We wish to state, for the record, that information circulating on social media about a purported meeting of His Excellency, Atiku Abubakar, with stakeholders of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), in which the former Vice President allegedly decided to ‘step aside and retire from active politics,’ is entirely false and deliberately misleading.”
It added, “The Waziri Adamawa has not in recent times held any such meeting with ADC stakeholders at the national level. The only recent engagement he had was with stakeholders of the ADC in Adamawa State last Thursday.”
Atiku’s media team stressed that any decision to leave politics “cannot, and would never, be communicated through rumours, faceless sources, or third party fabrication. Such a decision, if ever taken, would be formally conveyed through the Atiku Media Office.”
The statement accused those spreading the rumours of trying to undermine political opposition, noting, “This latest falsehood bears all the hallmarks of a coordinated disinformation campaign designed to create confusion, dampen momentum, and mislead the Nigerian public. Only the government and its agents could have sponsored this desperate narrative out of fear of what is coming.”
It further accused anti-democratic elements of attempting to destabilize political mobilisation, stating, “We state without equivocation that this mischief is being driven by anti-democratic elements who are deeply unsettled by the growing national consensus to rescue Nigeria from the failures of the current administration.”
The former vice president concluded by urging supporters to remain focused and ignore the rumours. “We therefore urge supporters of Atiku Abubakar, members of the ADC, and all well-meaning Nigerians to disregard this fake news in its entirety and remain focused on the collective effort to reclaim and rebuild our nation,” the statement said.