2019: Atiku Disowns Enugu Meeting of Integrity Group

Onyebuchi Ezigbo in Abuja
Former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar, has disassociated himself from a group known as the Integrity Group which was reported to have held a mobilisation meeting in Enugu last weekend.

He said no such group is known to him, describing it as blatantly falsehood.
In a statement issued by the Atiku Media Office on Tuesday, the former vice president said the news about the Enugu event was, at worst, the handiwork of some opportunists, political jobbers and shortsighted schemers who are out to do all they can to create power struggles for nothing but, their own selfish ends.

“The Atiku Media Office wishes to state that the news report in a section of the media at the weekend in which stalwarts of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) in Enugu State, shunned a purported presidential campaign parley of former Vice President and APC chieftain, Atiku Abubakar is blatantly false.

“While we see the media as partners in progress, and do not intend to disparage them, we urge them to always carry out investigation(s) to ascertain the credibility, veracity or otherwise of stories before publishing, else they may inadvertently earn the ignominious medal of “fake news.”

“The Atiku Media Office states that the so-called Integrity Group is not known to Atiku Abubakar, the Atiku Media Office and the supposedly held parley by the group, is not known to the former Vice President.

The news about this event is, at worst, the handiwork of some opportunists, political jobbers and shortsighted schemers who are out to do all they can to create power struggles for nothing but, their own selfish ends. As such, the Atiku Media Office seeks to distance itself and the former vice president from such group or persons.”

The statement said what is of paramount importance to Atiku (presently in Saudi Arabia to perform the lesser Hajj), “at this critical stage of the life of our nation is party unity, unconditional support for the acting president and prayers for the recovery and return of President Muhammadu Buhari.

It said: “The former vice president is focused on lending his time and best endeavours to the president to ensure that the country turns the corner by overcoming the present ravaging recession and inflation and put food on the table for the average Nigerian citizen. The time for politics is yet, a while away.”