Mohammed O. Taoheed
The presidential candidate warned that “falsehood and disinformation will not win elections.”
The presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Bola Tinubu, has urged his Labour Party counterpart, Peter Obi, to caution his supporters from spreading lies, denigrating him and other candidates.
In a statement by Bayo Onanuga, the Director of Media and Communications, in the Tinubu Campaign Organisation, the politician warned that “falsehood and disinformation will not win elections.”
“The Tinubu Campaign Organisation has appealed to the presidential candidate of the Labour Party, Mr. Peter Obi to call his supporters to order and to allow this election circle to be about issues that will advance the growth, progress and stability of Nigeria,” the statement said.
Mr Onanuga’s comments follow a false report purporting that Ghana’s President Nana Akufo-Addo wrote a letter to Mr Tinubu, asking him to support Peter Obi and focus on his health.
Mr Akufo-Addo denounced the development via his official Twitter account, saying it was a product of deliberate mischief with the intent to deceive the public.
“I have written no such letter to the APC leader, and it will not occur to me to do so. Ghana and Nigeria boast of decades of cordial, strong and brotherly relations, and I am not going to be the one to interfere in the internal affairs and politics of Nigeria,” Mr Akufo-Addo tweeted on Tuesday.
“We have found that the fake news about Akufo-Addo’s letter was first published on June 22 by a rogue platform, whose URL reads as worlsnews.space (sic) and site identity as World of News,” the statement said. “A content analysis of the site clearly showed that it is a Biafra news platform. The fake news was reposted on Facebook by Peter Obi Support Group, same day – a clear proof that Biafra campaigners and Peter Obi supporters are the same.”
The Nigerian general election is billed for February 2023 but political shenanigans are set to ramp up as campaigns officially commence in September, according to INEC timetable.
Messrs Tinubu, Obi and former vice president Atiku Abubakar of the PDP are seen as the main contenders in the impending poll.
