I didn’t collect money from Sanwo-Olu for 2023 election campaign: Atiku

The opposition leader’s office repeatedly sidestepped all efforts by The Gazette to get his comment before the story was published on Wednesday morning.

Ebube Ibeh • March 27, 2025

Former vice president Atiku Abubakar and Lagos governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu

Former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar says he never collected any money from Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu of Lagos for his 2023 election campaign.

This was disclosed in a statement by the Atiku Media Office in Abuja on Thursday.

The media aide to Mr Atiku, Paul Ibe, who issued the statement, pushed back against Peoples Gazette’s report that Mr Sanwo-Olu gave money to the former vice president for his 2023 presidential election campaign.

The Gazette’s story, which cited sources from the presidency, was based on an intelligence briefing received by the president recently.

Mr Ibe, who has served for years as Mr Abubakar’s chief spokesman, repeatedly sidestepped all efforts by The Gazette to get his comment before the story was published on Wednesday morning.

But in a statement issued a day after the publication, Mr Ibe sought to absolve his principal, describing the controversy as part of a purported plot by the president to undermine Mr Abubakar and other opposition figures ahead of 2027 general elections.

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