Nasarawa Govt Denies Sule-Atiku Meeting in Saudi Arabia

The Nasarawa State Government has firmly denied reports of a secret meeting between Governor Abdullahi Sule and former Vice President Atiku Abubakar in Saudi Arabia during the recent lesser Hajj pilgrimage, describing the claims as entirely fabricated and politically motivated.

The allegations, which surfaced in an online report earlier this week, suggested that Sule, a member of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), met with Abubakar, who is affiliated with the opposition African Democratic Congress (ADC), at the Conrad Jabal Omar Hotel in Mecca. According to the report, the two politicians held a two-hour dinner to discuss financial support and strategic alignment aimed at challenging President Bola Tinubu's reelection bid in the 2027 general elections. The story relied on anonymous sources and lacked confirmation from either party's representatives.

In a statement issued Friday from Lafia, the state capital, Ibrahim Addra, chief press secretary to Sule, rejected the claims outright. "At no point during his stay did the governor meet with former Vice President Atiku Abubakar. There was no meeting, no dinner, and no agreement of any kind," Addra said. He clarified that...