Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar in a handshake with President Muhammadu Buhari at the state banquet in honour of visiting President Jacob Zuma of South Africa at the State House, Abuja on Tuesday, 08-03-2016.Former Vice President and chieftain of All Progressives Congress (APC) Atiku Abubakar has not made any recent statement being attributed to him in a section of the media over the battle of supremacy between the Senate and the Attorney General of the Federation.
Mazi Paul Ibe, Media Adviser to Atiku Abubakar, said in a statement in Abuja on Monday that the former Vice President was taken by surprise by a purported statement being attributed to him and quoted by the media.
Ibe recalled that the last time Atiku Abubakar issued a statement on National Assembly matters was on July 2, 2015, when he called for an amicable resolution of crisis of confidence that arose from the election of principal officers, which bitterly divided the party leaders and their supporters. That statement was titled “It is time to shift ground and move to the centre.”
Ibe, however, disavows any recent statement either in support of the Senate or the Attorney General of the Federation.
According to Ibe, it was not within Atiku Abubakar’s power to intervene in support of either side when his intervention was not sought.
He explained that, though the Turaki Adamawa didn’t welcome any row between the executive branch and the legislature, which causes needless distractions at the expense of governance issues demanding attention, his July 2, 2015 statement over internal party tension should not be twisted, reworked and attributed to him in order to make it look like he made a recent comment on the NASS vs AG crisis of confidence.
He advised members of the mass media and the new media to treat people fairly by not attributing to them statements they didn’t make; dredging up old statements on different issues and make them appear like their reactions to current issues that have no bearing on each other.