The African Democratic Congress (ADC) has dismissed reports claiming that southern stakeholders called on former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar to step down from the 2027 presidential race.
On Tuesday evening, reports circulated that political leaders and stakeholders from southern Nigeria had convinced Abubakar to drop his presidential bid in favor of backing a candidate from their region.
Abubakar was reported to have declined the request, which was allegedly put forward during a private meeting.
“I will not be pressured into abandoning my constitutional right to aspire. Let every qualified member test their popularity through a credible primary. Zoning must not be used to silence competence,” Atiku was quoted as saying.
However, when reached on Tuesday night, Bolaji Abdullahi, the spokesperson for the ADC, dismissed the reports as baseless, stating that no such meeting ever took place.
“Nobody is having any such conversation,” Abdullahi told TheCable.
He stated that ADC members are “fully committed to strengthening” the party in preparation for the 2027 elections.
A source to the Cable who is close to Abubakar also dismissed the report, describing it as fake news and “entirely baseless”.
“Who chaired the meeting? Where did the meeting take place? Who and who were at the meeting? It is fake and propaganda,” the source said.
“Trying to respond is tantamount to validating a nonsense,” he added.
The source claimed that the report was engineered by supporters of Peter Obi, the Labour Party’s 2023 presidential candidate, along with members of the All Progressives Congress (APC), in a bid to sow discord within the ADC.