*Photo: Admiral Jibrin (rtd)*
The Kogi State governorship candidate of the Accord Party (AP), Vice Admiral Usman Oyibe Jibrin Rtd, has refuted social media report that he had stepped down for candidate of the Social Democratic Party (SDP) Alhaji Yakubu Murtala Ajaka.
He said there was no iota of truth in the report deliberately planted to cause confusion, saying it was an insult on his person to step down for Ajaka.
The AP flag bearer in a statement he personally signed and made available to newsmen in Lokoja urged his supporters and members of the public to disregard the mischievous report.
The retired Admiral said he was fully in the governorship race with his running mate, Comrade Raphael Olamife, and could not have withdrawn for anybody.
He therefore advised media practitioners against peddling false and unconfirmed stories, especially during election season when some desperate politicians are ready to do anything to achieve their selfish interests.
Below is a full text of the statement made available to newsmen:
“Our attention has been drawn to a fallacious and apparently malicious online publication by some Reporters mischievously purporting a fairy tale withdrawal from the governorship race by Vice Admiral Usman Oyibe Jibrin of Kogi APP for Alhaji Murtala Yakubu Ajaka of SDP.
“We therefore write to make the following clarifications:That the said publication is completely false, totally mendacious and the hallucinatory imagination of the publisher, who in search for cheap publicity decided to concoct a totally baseless and unfounded fallacy against the person of Vice Admiral Usman Oyibe Jibrin Rtd.
“That there is no reason for Jibrin to withdraw from a race which every available poll analysis places him above other contenders.
“That the write up is a big joke and a clear insult on the person of Vice Admiral Usman Oyibe Jibrin Rtd, who has so far manifested seriousness by triumphing over many adversaries in pursuit of this same governorship project.
“That the article is nothing but a failed attempt at applying the propaganda strategy of deploying a strong brand like Jibrin to accord visibility to a weaker brand through the act of name dropping.
“That the public should disregard the publication as a fabricated lie from the pit of hell and the hatchet job of a desperate pen pushers for little pecuniary benefits and should rather sustain their voiceferous, aggressive and massive support for Jibrin whose chiefest pursuit remains the liberation of Kogi state from many years of under development.”
