Former Head of State, Ibrahim Babangida, has denied reports in the media that he advised ex-vice president Abubakar Atiku not to run for presidency in 2019.
The former Head of State who met with Atiku at a closed-door meeting on Thursday, December 7, said the press was not privy to what he discussed with the former vice president and so no reports that he told Atiku not to run was false and fabricated.
Babangida, who spoke through his spokesperson, Kassim Afegbua, said the report was sponsored and it is unfair to both the former Head of State and Atiku, Premium Times reports.
Afegbua in a statement he released on Friday, December 8, said: “The report is very, very untrue. When I read the report, I was laughing. Because it is far from what they both discussed.
“Number one, IBB will not discourage anyone from seeking office. IBB will encourage anyone to seek election.
“They had a very useful political discussion. IBB also has a good relationship with Atiku. It’s not good to play politics with the relationship of people.”
A spokesperson to Abubakar Atiku, Paul Ibe, also denied the report that Atiku left Babangida’s residence angrily after being told not to run in 2019.
Ibe said: “Except those who were carrying these fake speculations were flying on the wall, there’s no way anyone would have known what happened. The report is a figment of the imagination of people.
“Both leaders have enjoyed a mutual relationship for many years and what I gathered was that the meeting was very, very fruitful.”
Meanwhile, NAIJ.com previously reported that Atiku has sent a message to President Muhammadu Buhari saying Nigerians will decide who will be president between them by 2019.
This was in response to President Buhari’s remark that his popularity was waxing stronger.
The president made this statement when he went on a two-day trip to Kano.
