Paul Ibe, Media Adviser to former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, has said that the letter announcing his principal’s resignation from the Peoples Democratic Party was leaked.

Ibe stated this during an interview on Wednesday night on Arise News, while reacting to the controversy surrounding the timing of Atiku’s exit from the PDP, which coincided with the nation’s mourning of former President Muhammadu Buhari, who was buried on Tuesday.

Ibe claimed that individuals opposed to Atiku’s political ambition, including some members within the PDP and their allies in the All Progressives Congres orchestrated the leak and not voluntarily released.

“We’re here because people who never wished His Excellency Atiku Abubakar well leaked a communication of his. Yes, it was leaked,” Ibe stated.

He further criticised the Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo, for commenting on the matter, accusing him of abandoning pressing aviation challenges.

“It’s unfortunate that the Minister of Aviation, who rather should be concerned with serious issues of aviation matters and there are plenty of them, like runways and better infrastructure, jumped into this fray as though knowing what caused an accident even before investigation,” Ibe said.

He insisted that the leak resulted from “rogue elements in the PDP working in cahoots with APC members,” stressing that the matter should not overshadow national reflection over Buhari’s death.

“Those who claim to know why he resigned, are they clairvoyants? I would rather say we speak on something else and not this particular issue, considering the fact that the nation is still in mourning and the memories of the late President, Muhammadu Buhari, who was just interred yesterday, are still fresh,” he said.

Atiku formally resigned from the PDP via a letter dated July 14, 2025, submitted to his local ward chairman in Adamawa State and shared publicly by his media aide on X.

In the letter, he cited “irreconcilable differences” and noted his disappointment with the party’s current trajectory, which he believes has strayed from its founding principles.