An online newspaper had on Monday, March 29, 2022, reported that the trio of Saraki, Governors Aminu Tambuwal and Bala Mohammed of Sokoto and Bauchi states respectively, had stepped down for the former vice president, who is equally a presidential aspirant on the platform of the PDP.
Conclusion
The claim is false, Saraki, Tambuwal and Mohammed have not stepped down for Atiku.
Full Text
An online newspaper, The Whistler had on Monday, March 29, 2022, published a report claiming that it has learnt that the trio of former Senate President, Bukola Saraki, Governors Aminu Tambuwal and Bala Mohammed of Sokoto and Bauchi states respectively, had stepped down for the former vice president, who is also a presidential hopeful on the platform of the PDP.
According to the report, the declaration of Rivers State governor, Mr Nyesom Wike’s intention to vie for the presidency turned the tide in favour of Atiku Abubakar.
The report revealed how the Saraki-led meeting with Benue State Governor, Samuel Ortom, who doubles as the chairman of the party’s consensus committee did not yield the desired result. It stated that the meeting came less than 24 hours after Wike had visited Ortom and donated N200 million to the state government.
Verification
Checks by The FactCheckElections show that the claim is FALSE.
Findings by The FactCheckElections revealed that the claim that Saraki and some other aspirants of the Peoples Democratic Party in the 2023 elections have stepped down for former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has been denied by the Director-General of the Saraki Campaign Council.
In a statement on Wednesday in Abuja, Earl Osaro Onaiwu, dismissed the report as “sheer mischief, and planted by those who want to gain the PDP presidential ticket by deceit.”
“…For clarity purposes, our candidate and three other aspirants met with former Vice President Atiku on Monday with the sole objective to inform him of their push towards a consensus candidate for the party.
“At that meeting, there was no talk of any of the aspirants stepping down as it is yet premature. To therefore find a planted story smacks of desperation and ill-intention.” The statement reads in part.
Similarly, The FactCheckElections checked the Twitter page of Saraki’s spokesman and his head of Digital Communications, Olu Onemola.
Findings from his page had a screenshot of the claim and a tweet debunking it. According to him, Dr. Bukola Saraki is still very much in the race for the nation’s presidential seat.
“Disregard all the #FakeNews coming out from political propaganda pushers!
Dr. Abubakar @BukolaSaraki is still very much in the race for the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria!” He tweeted.