Fayose gives Atiku 48-hour ultimatum, threatens to ‘spill more beans’ about Minna meeting 

Ayodele Fayose,  former Ekiti State Governor, has issued a 48-hour ultimatum to former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, demanding that he publicly disown a statement issued by his aide, following a brewing controversy over a private meeting in Minna.

The drama erupted after Fayose claimed on social media on Wednesday that Atiku met with Oyo State Governor Seyi Makinde earlier in the week to discuss the 2027 presidential race.

According to Fayose, Atiku is “70 percent certain” of securing the African Democratic Congress (ADC) presidential ticket and was reportedly considering Makinde as his running mate.

Fayose also alleged that Atiku’s camp believes Labour Party’s 2023 presidential candidate, Peter Obi, would neither accept a deputy role nor be broadly acceptable in the North as a potential successor.

The former governor claimed that Makinde agreed to join ADC on the condition of receiving the vice-presidential ticket and purportedly offered an initial N10 billion — to be released in two tranches — to fund the “proper take-off” of the party, with additional funds promised once the campaign is underway.

In a swift rebuttal on Thursday, Atiku’s camp dismissed Fayose’s claims as a “shameless concoction” and “beer parlour talk.” The statement, signed by Senior Special Assistant on Public Communication, Phrank Shaibu, described Fayose’s narrative as “reckless and malicious fabrication.”

“At no time did former Vice President Atiku Abubakar engage in the imaginary horse-trading described in that laughable script. There were no negotiations over vice-presidential tickets. There were no discussions about N10 billion contributions. There were no zoning manipulations, no delegate-delivery guarantees, and certainly no clandestine ‘Dubai meeting’ on any such agenda,” the statement read.

Undeterred, Fayose responded on X (formerly Twitter), expressing amusement at the rebuttal and reiterating his challenge to Atiku.

“Because of my respect for Atiku, I will want to assume that he did not authorise the press statement, and I will expect that after seeing it, he will within 48 hours cause a rebuttal to be issued.

Should Atiku not publicly disown the statement within the next 48 hours, I will have no option but to spill more beans – particularly regarding Wike – and by then, I will be doing so without any atom of respect for him. Till then, we keep our gunpowder dry.”

The ultimatum has intensified political tensions and drawn attention to behind-the-scenes manoeuvring ahead of the 2027 elections, leaving observers eager to see whether Atiku will respond or allow Fayose to escalate the revelations.