Nigeria, July 9 -- Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has firmly denied reports claiming he rejected calls to step down for a southern candidate during an alleged political meeting, dismissing the entire narrative as a "malicious fabrication" by the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).

In a strongly worded statement issued on Monday, Atiku's camp debunked the story as completely false, describing it as "pure fiction cooked up in the propaganda kitchens of the Tinubu-led APC regime."

"There was no such meeting. Atiku Abubakar was never in attendance. The entire story is laughably desperate," the statement read.

The former Vice President's team described the report as a diversionary tactic by what it called a "faltering administrati...