‘Rogue PDP members’ leaked Atiku’s resignation letter – Aide
Paul Ibe, media adviser to former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, has alleged that individuals he described as rogue elements within the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) leaked his principal’s resignation letter.
The news of Atiku’s official exit from the PDP went viral on Wednesday, July 16, 2025, almost simultaneously with the former Vice President’s condolence visit to the family of the late former President Muhammadu Buhari in Daura, Katsina State.
BREAKING: Atiku Abubakar Officially Resigns from PDP
In the letter, dated Monday, July 14, 2025, and submitted to his local ward chairman in Adamawa State, Atiku claimed that “irreconcilable differences” with the PDP were responsible for the decision, expressing disappointment with the party’s current trajectory, which he believes has strayed from its founding principles.
However, the letter drew widespread criticism from many Nigerians, who interpreted the timing of its release as an attempt by Atiku to steal the spotlight during Buhari’s mourning period.
Amplifying this sentiment, Festus Keyamo, the Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, described the timing of the resignation as “insensitive.”
“Whilst I acknowledge that it is within your constitutional right to change political parties at any time you may wish, releasing your letter of resignation from the PDP during this week of mourning is clearly an attempt to draw the spotlight away from such a solemn occasion and direct it on yourself,” the minister wrote ina statement shared on X.
Atiku’s aide blames rogue PDP elements
Speaking on an Arise Television programme, News Night on Wednesday, Ibe claimed that his principal’s resignation letter was deliberately leaked by his opponents within the PDP and their collaborators in the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).
He added that the leak was timed to provoke controversy and shift public attention.
“People who never wished his excellency Atiku Abubakar well leaked a communication of his.
“It’s unfortunate that the minister of aviation, who should be concerned with aviation matters and plenty of them — runways and better infrastructure — would jump into the fray.
“It is like knowing what caused an accident even before the investigation.
“Rogue elements in the PDP, working in cahoots with the APC members, leaked that communication, which is why we are having this conversation,” Ibe said.
