A former Senate President, Bukola Saraki, has dismissed reports claiming he is reluctant to join the coalition of opposition parties because governors of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) have pledged allegiance to President Bola Tinubu.
In a statement from the head of his media team, Yusuph Olaniyonu, Saraki said the report should be disregarded, describing it as fabrications and manipulations which the opposition in Kwara State allegedly concocted.
A recent report claimed that Saraki said governors from the All Progressives Congress and the PDP have pledged loyalty to the president in hopes of securing their political futures and that opposition governors are unlikely to fund any new coalition, hence his reluctance to publicly align with the movement.
The statement read: “We urge political associates of Saraki and members of the public to disregard the fabrications and jaundiced views contained in the story and we condemn the spin and manipulations that the opposition in Kwara State concocted from the story by manufacturing quotes alongside a graphic design of their own to create a fresh falsehood for circulation online.
“It should be noted that the reporter of the story quoted unnamed sources and faceless individuals who he claimed attended a meeting with Dr. Saraki. He also sought the opinions of people who he did not tell the detail of the story he wanted them to respond to.
“We believe his story came from his misconception of why Saraki has refused to associate with or comment on the ongoing efforts by some politicians to form a coalition. It is equally obvious that he simply decided to package as a news story the permutations, projections, and calculations of some individuals who believe they could proffer a reason for the quiet stance of the former Senate President.
“Anybody who has associated closely with Dr. Saraki will know that either in the public or private space, he does not speak carelessly and in a manner that can expose him to ridicule. He is always a careful and frugal speaker. The views expressed in that news story and the concocted graphic design in circulation do not represent the position of Dr. Saraki. He has nothing to do with them.
“We, therefore, call on well-meaning Nigerians to disregard and ignore the false claims contained either in the story published by the newspaper or the warped version of it being circulated online by elements of the opposition in Kwara State.”
