The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has condemned the trending fake report on the All Progressive Congress presidential candidate, Bola Tinubu.
The Commission condemned this in a statement on Saturday November 11, 2022.
“A press Release purported to have been issued by the Commission has been trending online since Friday 11th November 2022. It claims that the Commission has commenced investigation into a case of criminal forfeiture against one of the Presidential candidates in the forthcoming General Election and is liaising with a Court in the United States of America in pursuit of same to determine possible violation of our guidelines or the Electoral Act 2022,” the statement reads.
“We wish to state categorically that the said Press Release did not emanate from the Commission nor is it pursuing the purported course of action. It is the handiwork of mischief makers and utterly fake,” it added.
INEC stated that “Press Releases from the Commission are uploaded to the INEC Press Corps platform and simultaneously through our website and official social media handles.”
The Commission, hereby, appealed to the public to ignore the Press Release.
The Internet was awash with Stories from Friday night through Saturday about the purported investigation of the Presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, for drug related offences by the Independent National Electoral Commission in partnership with the Illinois Police Department and the Courts in the United States of America.
The press release which was widely shared on Twitter and Other Social media platforms also got airtime on some National Television.
The Press release was allegedly signed by the Chairman on Public Affairs and Voter Education of the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, Mr Festus Okoye.
With this denial by the commission the days ahead will determine what it will do to address this obvious error and misrepresentation.
The incident has also brought to the fore the debilitating effect of fake news as the 2023 Elections draws near.
