The presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, Atiku Abubakar, on Saturday night, vowed not to legitimize the presidential election of February 25, 2023, as purported in a “fake” press release attributing him to giving legitimacy to the election.

Atiku personally said he would never give legitimacy to the widely rigged presidential election of February 25 that produce Bola Ahmed Tinubu.

His statement comes as a reaction to reports in certain quarters claiming that he has decided to withdraw the court case instituted against Tinubu’s victory.

But the PDP candidate insisted that his lawyers have his express instruction to challenge the outcome of the 2023 presidential election and nothing has changed.

Atiku said that the so-called press release neither emanated from him nor his office, adding that it should be treated with repudiation, as he said it was untrue and deliberately contrived by those who “illegally appropriated the mandate of the Nigerian people.”

Recall that some political parties, politicians, and foreign and local election observers had decried the use of violence, vote buying, and voter intimidation, among others, during the 2023 general elections, as the PDP and the Labour Party petitioned the court to seek redress over irregularities in the election conduct while rejecting its outcome.

Atiku, speaking in a statement he signed on Saturday night said, “For the avoidance of any doubt, I wish to state categorically that my lawyers still have my unflinching mandate to challenge the outcome of the February 25 presidential election.

“I join other lovers of democracy in Nigeria and friends of our great country in the outright rejection of the pre-determined outcome of the February 25 election.”

The PDP presidential candidate pointed out that he would continue to challenge the legality of the election, alongside his party, the PDP.

He said “The decision to challenge the sham election of February 25, the worst election in our democratic history, is not predicated on my personal interest but on the interest of Nigeria and its people. It is aimed at deepening democracy and ensuring that we do not confer legitimacy on an outcome of illegitimacy.

“My commitment to the democratic struggle in Nigeria is beyond an election season.”