2027: El-rufai denies dumping Atiku for Southern candidate

Former governor of Kaduna State, Nasir El-rufai has debunked reports purporting his support for a Southern presidential candidate ahead of the 2027 general elections.

Reports making the rounds on social media accused the African Democratic Congress, ADC, chieftain of dumping one of the party’s presidential aspirants, Atiku Abubakar, who is from the North, stating that it is the turn of the South.

The report suggested that El-rufai may be backing the 2023 presidential candidate of the Labour Party, Peter Obi.

However, in a statement on Monday, El-rufai described the report as an “untrue claim, despite its virality”.

He denied making such claims in any of his speeches, interviews or social media posts.

“I have my own verifiable platforms on social media where I speak my mind and own my opinions”, he said.

The former governor reiterated that “no views may be attributable to me unless those I explicitly express on my social media platforms or during interviews with respected media platforms.

“It is also wrong and improper to attribute to me opinion articles from other authors which I may post on my handles as a contribution to the national conversation. These caveats are crucial as we confront both irresponsible politicking and the deliberate misuse of social media for spreading fake news.

“The wilful attribution to me of claims I did not make by a fake news platform is no excuse to treat such platforms with any seriousness.

“In this age of turmoil and falsehood, the always important obligation to verify before posting has become ever more crucial.

“In this instance, a few senior editors seem to have ignored this duty. Society loses if media leaders join the most irresponsible actors on social media in the unedifying olympics of fiction and fakery. Everyone should live up to their responsibility”.