By Our Correspondent

National News – Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has dismissed widespread claims that he plans to retire from politics, describing the reports as false and part of a coordinated disinformation campaign.

The 2023 presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party said rumours circulating on social media suggested he had met with stakeholders of the African Democratic Congress and decided to step aside from active politics, a claim he strongly denied on Monday.

According to a statement released by his media aide, Paul Ibe, the alleged meeting never happened.

The statement clarified that Atiku had not held any recent national-level engagement with ADC leaders and therefore could not have taken any decision about retiring from politics.

Explaining what happened, the statement said the only recent political meeting involving Atiku took place last Thursday in Adamawa State, where he met with ADC stakeholders at the state level.

The former vice president emphasised that the narrative about stepping aside from politics was fabricated and deliberately circulated to mislead the public.

Addressing why the rumours spread, Atiku alleged that unnamed anti-democratic elements were behind the false information.

He claimed the campaign was aimed at slowing down what he described as growing political momentum around the ADC and confusing Nigerians about his political future.

On how such an announcement would normally be made, Atiku stressed that a decision as significant as leaving politics would never be communicated through social media rumours or anonymous sources.

Instead, he said any official decision would come directly from the Atiku Media Office through verified channels.

The Adamawa-born politician urged his supporters, ADC members, and Nigerians generally to disregard the reports.

He maintained that the claims were politically motivated and intended to distract from what he called efforts to “rescue Nigeria” from the failures of the current administration.

Atiku also warned that misinformation in the political space could undermine democratic engagement and urged the public to verify information before sharing it online.