The camp of former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has dismissed as false and malicious a post attributed to former Ekiti State Governor, Ayodele Fayose, alleging secret political negotiations involving him.
Fayose had alleged that Governor Seyi Makinde of Oyo State had agreed to dump the Peoples Democratic Party and join the African Democratic Congress on the condition that he would emerge as the party’s vice-presidential candidate for Atiku in the 2027 general elections.
Fayose made the claim in a statement titled, “Between Atiku and Makinde, Untold Story of What Happened in Minna Yesterday,” posted on his verified X (formerly Twitter) account on Wednesday.
According to him, Makinde met with Atiku in Minna, Niger State, on Tuesday in what he described as a carefully arranged meeting with selected personalities to ensure “confidence and acceptability.”
However, in a statement issued in Abuja on Thursday, Atiku’s Senior Special Assistant on Public Communication, Phrank Shaibu, described the report as a “reckless and malicious fabrication.”
Shaibu said the publication was a “shameless concoction” and denied claims that Atiku engaged in any form of political bargaining as alleged in the report.
“At no time did former Vice President Atiku Abubakar engage in the imaginary horse-trading described in that laughable script,” he said.
