Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has dismissed as “entirely false” reports claiming he has decided to retire from active politics after a purported meeting with stakeholders of the African Democratic Congress ADC.

The reports, which circulated widely on social media, alleged that Atiku met with ADC leaders and agreed to step aside from partisan engagement. In a strongly worded statement issued through his media aide, Paul Ibe, and shared on X, Atiku described the claims as a deliberate attempt to mislead Nigerians and undermine ongoing political realignments.

According to the statement, Atiku has not held any recent meeting with ADC stakeholders at the national level. His only recent interaction with the party, it clarified, was a session with ADC figures in Adamawa State, which did not involve any discussion about his withdrawal from politics.

Atiku stressed that any decision as consequential as exiting the political stage would never be conveyed through anonymous briefings or social media rumours. He insisted that such an announcement, if ever contemplated, would be formally communicated through his media office.

The former presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party framed the false reports as part of a broader disinformation campaign aimed at sowing confusion and weakening what he described as a “growing national consensus” for political change in Nigeria.

He alleged that “anti-democratic elements” unsettled by the current political trajectory were behind the narrative, suggesting that those in or around government circles might be sponsoring the misinformation out of fear of his continued relevance.

Atiku urged his supporters, members of the ADC, and Nigerians who are dissatisfied with the state of governance to ignore the rumours and remain focused on what he called the collective project of “rescuing” and rebuilding the country.

He warned that the spread of fabricated stories about his political future was designed not only to dampen morale among his supporters but also to distract from substantive debates about leadership, governance, and accountability.

Reaffirming his commitment to active engagement in national affairs, Atiku positioned the episode as a test of political vigilance, calling on the public to treat unverified social media claims with skepticism and to rely on official channels for information about his political decisions.