Politics
2019: As rumours circulate, Atiku says he has not defected from the PDP
Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has dismissed rumours that he has defected from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
Atiku, who defected from PDP to the All Progressives Congress (APC) in 2014, but returned to the PDP early this year to pursue his presidential ambition, urged his supporters to completely ignore the rumours.
A statement from his campaign office in Abuja on Sunday said rumours of the defection were false.
Claims had circulated that Atiku had picked a former Governor of Central Bank of Nigeria, Prof. Charles Soludo as his running mate on the ticket of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA).
But the Sunday statement described the report as “a malicious attempt to confuse the public” about the aspiration of Atiku ahead of the forthcoming presidential primaries election of the PDP.
It said, “For avoidance of any doubts, Atiku remains the front-line aspirant for the presidential ticket of the PDP.
Read also: Saraki continues ‘consultations’, meets Gov Okowa behind closed doors
“In the past two months, Atiku Abubakar has moved across states in the country, consulting with stakeholders of the PDP and explaining to them his agenda as encapsulated in the acronym JOBS (Jobs, Opportunity, Being united and Security) for Nigeria.
“The nationwide consultations continue this week with visits to the South West, North West and North Central zones of the country.
“Atiku’s passion and commitment to winning the PDP primaries is without any compromise and to assume that he will abandon the hard work he has done with the positive results he is getting from the stakeholders of the party is, to say the least, preposterous and unthinkable.
“The campaign calls on supporters of Atiku to remain steadfast and see the contrived news of defection as an an attempt to distract it from the set task of winning the PDP ticket and the 2019 presidential election by the grace of God.”
RipplesNigeria… without borders, without fears
Click here to join the Ripples Nigeria WhatsApp group for latest updates.
Join the conversation
Support Ripples Nigeria, hold up solutions journalism
Balanced, fearless journalism driven by data comes at huge financial costs.
As a media platform, we hold leadership accountable and will not trade the right to press freedom and free speech for a piece of cake.
If you like what we do, and are ready to uphold solutions journalism, kindly donate to the Ripples Nigeria cause.
Your support would help to ensure that citizens and institutions continue to have free access to credible and reliable information for societal development.
INVESTIGATION: In Kwara, multimillion-naira milk processing plant is abandoned, converted to a chicken outlet
After the government spent millions of naira to establish a milk processing plant in Kwara State that would provided jobs...
SPECIAL REPORT: For Sokoto communities, promise of healthcare is akin to death sentence
In this story, ABDULRASHEED HAMMAD delves into the dire realities of Primary Health Care services in Sokoto State, shedding light...
ICYMI…SPECIAL REPORT: NNPCL hides behind PIA to frustrate disclosure, accountability
Nigeria’s major oil company, Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation Limited (NNPCL), in what appears to be a common practice of disregard...
INVESTIGATION: Multi-million naira Ekiti resort center remains uncompleted a decade after
The multimillion-naira project, expected to comprise recreational buildings, now consists of cassava farmland, a bush used for excretion, and a...
SPECIAL REPORT: Torturous experiences of students with disabilities in Oyo tertiary institutions
For students with disabilities in Oyo state-owned tertiary institutions, learning is a torturous and distressing experience, considering the building structures...