From Juliana Taiwo-Obalonye, Abuja
The media campaign group promoting the presidential ambition of Vice President, Yemi Osinbajo, called Osinbajo for President Media Council, has raised the alarm over plot to smear him, ahead of the All Progressives Congress’ (APC) primary.
In a statement, entitled Exposed: Plot to smear Osinbajo with false testimonies of discrimination against women wearing hijab,” the group said there is a plan to use fake audio of faceless individuals with fake names to discredit Osinbajo as a religious bigot.
The group linked the plot to US-based Nigerian who was formerly a students’ union president at the University of Lagos and currently a lecturer at the University of Ohio.
“The plan is to use fake audio of faceless individuals with fictitious names to cast the vice president, who is a Christian, as a religious fanatic, who discriminated against staff of other faith while he was attorney general and commissioner for justice in Lagos State during the tenure of former governor Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
“In the fake video, a woman is seen crying and making frantic allegations that she was discriminated against by the then Attorney General, because she was not allowed to wear the Muslim head cover for women, otherwise known as hijab, to work.
“As observed by someone who was in the same ministry at the time Osinbajo served as attorney general, no such incident ever occurred and this is just a malicious and wicked attempt to sully the sterling qualities of Osinbajo because of his presidential aspirations.”