Hassan Dankwambo according to his Senior Special Assistant to on Press Affairs, Junaidu Usman Abubakar refuted the recent media reports which were rife that there has been a cold war between him and the former Vice President over the 2019 presidential ambitions describing the insinuations as unfounded.
Junaidu Abubakar in a statement issued to our correspondent Monday stated that the attention of the Governor was drawn to a story published by Daily Independent Newspaper on Friday, 5th January 2018 with the caption ‘2019 presidency: Atiku, Dankwambo at War in Gombe’ that reported that his principal had ordered the arrest of Atiku’s organization coordinator in the state one Honourable Ibrahim Bage.
According to the Governor’s spokesperson, the newspaper reported in the said story that the arrest was allegedly carried out by officials of the Department of State Services [DSS] who seized Bage’s personal belongings including phones, laptops, camera and whisked him away to government house for a warning meeting with Governor Dankwambo.
He stressed, ”We wish to categorically state that at no time did such a thing happened. Governor Dankwambo never ordered the arrest of any such person and he never spoke and met with Bage, not in Gombe Government House and not anywhere at all.”
The Spokesperson further stated, ”This falsehood against the Governor is mischievous, fictitious and malicious. It is a big surprise that such concocted story was published by a reputable newspaper like Daily Independent without balance.”
While urging the general public to disregard the story, the Governor’s aide stressed that Hassan Dankwambo “has tremendous respect for the former Vice President and sees him as a father and mentor.”
He stressed, “The two leaders have a good understanding of each other. Therefore, any plan or attempt to disrupt the wonderful relationship between them will fail.”
This is a vivid attempt to create a rift between Governor Dankwambo and Alhaji Atiku Abubakar by some political zealots. Gombe state under the able leadership of Governor Dankwambo has always been a truly democratic arena for all and sundry and it will remain so under Dankwambo’s reign,” he claimed.