Mr Melaye said he is among the politician Atiku supported and became what he is today, he also mentioned Ben Obi and Usman Bugaji among others.
A spokesperson of the People Democratic Party (PDP) Presidential Campaign Council, Dino Melaye, has dismissed claims by the vice presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Kashim Shettima, that Atiku Abubakar, did not support people while he served as the vice president of Nigeria.
Atiku who is from Adamawa state was Nigeria's vice president between 1999 to 2007 under the Olusegun Obasanjo administration.
On Tuesday, Mr Shettima in Yobe State said the northeast region of the country should not vote for the Peoples Democratic Party's presidential candidate, because the former vice-president neglected the region when he was in office.
"Vote for Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu of the APC instead of wasting your votes on someone who does not care about you and the entire region.
"You cannot vote for someone that did eight years as Vice President without doing eight projects in his place. You cannot vote for someone that did eight years as Vice President without empowering eight people. Atiku does not empower people. He only cares about his business interest. Even the road to his village Ganye was constructed by the APC-led government of Mohammadu Buhari," Mr Shettima said.
Responding to Mr Shettima on Wednesday during a campaign rally in Jigawa state, Mr Melaye said Mr Shettima's claims were baseless lies against the PDP presidential candidate.
Mr Melaye said there are more than eight people across the country that Atiku supported who became successful politicians in the country.
According to him, Atiku supported a former governor of Adamawa State Boni Haruna; a former governor of Taraba State, Jolly Nyame; a former Minister of Women Affairs, Jummai Alhassan; a former pioneer chairman of the Economic and Financial Crime Commission (EFCC) Nuhu Ribadu, and the governor of Kaduna State, Nasir El-Rufai.
Others are Garba Shehu, a media aide to President Muhammadu Buhari, a former governor of Gombe State, Danjuma Goje; a former governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and the governor of Anambra State, Charles Soludo; and a former Minister of Finance, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, a former Minister of Power, Bartholomew Nnaji; and a former Deputy Speaker fo the House of Representatives, Emeka Ihedioha.
Mr Melaye said he is among the politicians Atiku supported and became what they are today. He also mentioned lawmaker Ben Obi and Usman Bugaji among others.
I'll set aside 10 billion dollars for youth empowerment - Atiku
In his remarks at the campaign rally, Atiku promised to set aside 10 billion dollars for empowerment programmes to support women and youth groups across the country.
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He also promised to reopen Nigeria's borders from all angles to make life easy for the citizens and facilitate the free flow of trading between neighbouring countries.
"I will support farming and business because they are the main activities of the people of Jigawa State. Therefore I will open the borders to enable trade to be conducted across Nigeria and Niger Republic.
"I will handle and resolve once and for all, the incessant problem strike by lecturers of the Nigerian Universities", Atiku said
He said Jigawa has about 350,000 unused hectares of arable land which he would help residents to utilise for farming.
Meanwhile, the elated former JIgawa governor, Sule Lamido, greeted the huge crowd that turned out for the rally. He described the youth as his sons and daughters and prayed for their future endeavours.
Mr Lamido called on the gathering to vote for Atiku, assuring that he will fulfil all the promises he made.
