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President John Evans Atta Mills has said he has not disowned former President J.J Rawlings as being reported in the local media. A statement from the presidency said President Mills will work closely with his former boss in a bid to retain power in this year�s election. A local newspaper, the Daily Guide, reported on Wednesday that President Mills at a meeting at the Peduase Lodge, opined he does not need the assistance of Rawlings in the upcoming elections. However, the presidency has denied such a meeting ever took place on the said date since the President was busily attending to national engagements in the full glare of the public. �The Presidency takes a strong view of the publication which is nothing but a total fabrication,� the statement read in part. �No such meeting took place and those comments have never been made by President Mills.� It added: �Indeed the President was nowhere near the Peduase Lodge as his schedules last Friday which included swearing in newly appointed Ministers of State at the Castle, commissioning the Olam Factory at Tema and returning to the Castle for other official meetings including a closed-door meeting with the National Media Commission ironically to discuss the politics of insults and unethical journalism such as this one.� �President Mills will continue to work with the Founder and be the unifier and attract more support for the NDC as his record over the years has shown,� it noted. The presidency has therefore directed the newspaper to render an apology and retract the story to set the records straight. It said: �It is our expectation that the Daily Guide will put out an immediate retraction and apology to His Excellency the President. �We hope that as we all commit ourselves to a free and independent press, we will be guided by truth and timeless standards which is the only way to safeguard our collective freedoms.�