Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has refuted reports suggesting he intends to withdraw from the 2027 presidential race in favour of another aspirant.
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In a statement on Thursday, his Media Adviser, Paul Ibe, said the claims were a misrepresentation of Atiku’s recent interview with the BBC Hausa Service. He explained that a careful review of both the transcript and the video of the interview showed the former vice president never said he would step down for anyone.
Atiku, according to Ibe, only stated that young Nigerians and other aspirants are free to join the race, and that if a younger candidate emerges victorious in a primary election, he would support such a person without hesitation.
The clarification followed reports quoting Atiku as saying he would accept and back a younger aspirant if they defeated him in the primaries. According to his camp, that position was wrongly spun into a claim that he was preparing to quit the race.
Ibe cautioned against what he described as deliberate twisting of Atiku’s words, noting that interpretative mischief in political reporting misleads the public and distorts the former vice president’s stance.
