The coordinator of Atiku’s media office, Paul Ibe, has said that the former Vice President is not giving monetary handouts as circulated on the social media.

Ibe debunked as a scam and fake, a certain social media notice, asking Nigerians to submit their details for monetary handouts from the former vice president, under the guise that the handout was meant to cushion the harsh economic effect of the Coronavirus pandemic on Nigerians

In a statement made available to journalists on Thursday, Ibe said it is an obvious attempt to fleece and defraud Nigerians by some unsuspecting criminal masterminds.

Ibe said, “We wish to bring to the attention of Nigerians that former Vice President Atiku Abubakar is not connected to a certain notice circulating on social media directing unsuspecting members of the public to a link.

“We thus state categorically that any such link asking for the bio-data of Nigerians as beneficiaries of monetary handout is fake.

He added that, “This is obviously a scam, an attempt to fleece and defraud Nigerians by, perhaps, collecting their vital bio-data for a nefarious objective orchestrated by masterminds of the advertisement on social media.

“The website address, https//www.atikufoundation.online, given by the scammers for individuals to apply, is unknown to the former Vice President.”

Explaining Atiku’s position on the economic measures to be taken during this pandemic he said, “As a patriotic and law abiding citizen, the Waziri Adamawa had pledged his modest public donation to the Federal Government through the Priam Group to support government’s effort in fighting the spread of Corona virus in Nigeria and in providing succour to the most vulnerable of people amid the ravaging pandemic.

“In addition, he had proposed stimulus package for the most vulnerable for consideration by government.

“We hereby call on relevant security agencies to endeavor to unmask these scammers and ensure that they are brought to book and their evil plots against Nigerians nipped in the bud.”