Atiku Accuses Presidency of Deploying Impostors to Circulate False Statements

Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has accused the Presidency of sponsoring a smear campaign against him by engaging impostors to issue fabricated statements in his name.

In a statement yesterday by his Media Adviser, Paul Ibe, Atiku disowned one Kola Johnson, whom he described as an impostor parading as his media consultant.

The statement read in part: “We have observed with concern a certain self-styled ‘media consultant,’ one Kola Johnson, issuing press releases in the name of former Vice President Atiku Abubakar. 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 unauthorized statements on Atiku.”

According to the statement, one of such false claims attributed to Johnson suggested that an Atiku administration would be dominated by a single ethnic group. Atiku dismissed the claim as “disinformation deliberately designed to ridicule him in the media.”

Ibe stressed that the former Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) presidential candidate “has never engaged Johnson as a media consultant, aide, or associate,” warning that “any statement issued in that name is fake and should be disregarded.”

He called on media organisations that had published the fabricated releases to retract them immediately, while urging editors and gatekeepers to verify with the Atiku Media Office (AMO) before publication.

“For the record, authentic information from Atiku Abubakar is only released through the Atiku Media Office, signed by his Media Adviser or the Special Assistant on Public Communications,” the statement added.

The AMO also urged Nigerians and the media to remain vigilant against what it described as “the propaganda schemes of the Tinubu administration.”