BREAKING: #Tinubu To Sue #AriseTv And Others For Circulating Fake News – #arisetvmustbsanctioned —The Genius Media Nigeria reports that the presidential candidate of the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, is perfecting plans to challenge leading media houses in Nigeria in court over what he described as “fake news.”
Speaking through his spokesman, Mr. Bayo Onanuga, Tinubu emphasized that certain media houses in Nigeria have in been involved in biased reportage against his presidential aspiration.
He noted that the media houses have become “puppeteers” to Alhaji Atiku Abubakar and Peter Obi, presidential candidates of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP and Labour Party, LP, respectively.
Tinubu, in a statement signed by his spokesman and obtained by OpenLife, listed the media houses to include Business Day, Arise TV, Channels TV and others.
The statement reads in full:
All those people, including Arise TV, BusinessDay and Channels TV spreading fake news and assassinating the character of Asíwájú Tinubu will meet us in court sooner than later. You have all thrown professionalism and objectivity to Jabi Lake because you are playing the script of your master puppeteers, Atiku and Peter Obi. The height of your shenanigans today was the wide use of a fake INEC statement. Shame on you all.
Also reacting to the fake, INEC in a statement issued on Saturday by the chairman of its information and voter education committee, Festus Okoye urged the public to disregard trending reports that the commission is investigating Tinubu.
TGM gathered that INEC reaction follows a letter that surfaced on social media on Friday bearing the electoral umpire’s letterhead and claiming Tinubu is being investigated by INEC over a 1993 case in the United States involving forfeiting some drug-related money to the US government.
The report further alleged that INEC was liaising with the US court over the matter with the intention of pursuing a prosecution.
However, Okoye in a statement on Saturday said the letter is fake, and INEC is not pursuing any such agenda.
He added that there is no attempt to disqualify Tinubu over possible violation of the Electoral Act 2022 as the purported letter is the handwork of mischief makers.
He said: “
A Press Release purported to have been issued by the Commission has been trending online since yesterday 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.
“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.
“Press Releases from the Commission are uploaded to the INEC Press Corps platform and simultaneously disseminated through our website and official social media handles.
“The public is advised to ignore the press release.”
