The Atiku Haske Organisation has rejected a directive by Abba Atiku Abubakar, son of former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, asking members of the group to defect to the All Progressives Congress, saying he lacks the authority to determine its political direction.

The support group of the African Democratic Congress presidential hopeful also announced the expulsion of Abba, claiming he never contributed “a naira” to its operations.

Abba had on Thursday, after announcing his defection to the APC, directed coordinators and members of his political structure to join the ruling party and mobilise support for President Bola Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda.

He also called for the renaming of the group to the Haske Bola Tinubu Organisation.

Reacting in a statement issued in Abuja on Sunday, the initiator and convener of the Atiku Haske Organisation, Mai Nagge Bakari, said Abba was neither the founder of the group nor vested with the authority to issue directives on its behalf.

Bakari said Abba was merely invited to join the organisation and had neither contributed financially to its activities nor held its registration documents.

“We founded the Atiku Haske Organisation and merely invited Abba to join the group. He has neither contributed a naira to the activities of the organisation nor possesses its certificate of registration.

“We are therefore under no obligation to adhere to any directive issued by him. On the contrary, he is subject to our regulations and has fallen short of our expectations. He has accordingly been dismissed as a member,” Bakari said.

The group stressed that it had resolved to move en masse from the Peoples Democratic Party to the African Democratic Congress and had no intention of defecting to any other political party, describing Abba’s action as a violation of its resolutions and core values.