The 2023 presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar, has denied any connection to a self-styled media consultant who issued a statement claiming he would prioritise Yoruba interests if elected president in 2027.
In a rebuttal issued on Thursday by his media adviser, Paul Ibe, the former vice president dismissed the remarks attributed to one Kola Johnson as “false and offensive,” describing them as part of a wider propaganda effort to discredit him.
“Our findings point directly to the Presidency, which, in its desperation to smear opposition leaders, has resorted to hiring faceless mercenaries to fabricate fake stories and circulate unauthorised statements on Atiku,” the statement read.
Atiku insisted he has never employed Johnson “as a media consultant, aide, or associate,” warning editors and newsrooms to disregard such claims and verify all information with his official media office.
The disputed statement, widely circulated on Wednesday, suggested that Atiku assured Yoruba stakeholders their interests would remain central to his policies if he won the 2027 presidency. It cited his marriage in the 1970s to a Yoruba woman, as well as his cultural and personal ties to the South-West, as evidence of his longstanding bonds with the region.
But Atiku’s camp has rejected the narrative outright, urging media outlets that carried the claims to issue retractions. “This disinformation is part of a calculated propaganda project designed to ridicule Atiku in the media,” Ibe said.
The intervention comes as political manoeuvring ahead of the 2027 general election intensifies, with the PDP’s standard-bearer keen to guard against attempts to paint him as beholden to any ethnic bloc.
