Mabior Garang de Mabior, head of the SPLM-IO Committee for Information, has dismissed as untrue reports that he defected from the opposition party.

Mr. Mabior spoke to Radio Tamazuj this morning to deny the widespread rumors.

Mabior dismissed as fake a letter shared on social media on Sunday claiming that he had defected from Riek Machar’s party, the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-In-Opposition (SPLM-IO).

 “There is no truth to what has been reported. The only reason I decided to respond to this fake news is that our SPLA-IO forces are still in their positions and security arrangements are not done. So I don’t want them to be confused,” said Mabior.

The opposition official urged all parties to the revitalized peace agreement to focus on the full implementation of the agreement.

"I want to tell the public that I haven't resigned, and the report on my resignation is fake. The letter was written by individuals who don’t want peace. The most important thing here is the peace process, not my resignation," he said.

Separately, Mabior said his leader Riek Machar has not yet accepted his resignation from the position of deputy minister of interior, which he submitted earlier in June.

Mabior was appointed as deputy minister of interior in the transitional government on the SPLM-IO ticket in March, but never took the oath of office.

"The chairman has accepted it reluctantly, and he is still trying to convince me that security arrangements will be implemented. So we are still discussing the matter," he said.

"If the security arrangements are done, I don’t have any problem because I didn’t resign because of anything personal against any individual. If the security arrangements are done in the right way, I will come back and participate in the cabinet," he added.