From Romanus Ugwu, Abuja
Tinubu Campaign Organisation (TCO) has tasked Labour Party (LP) presidential candidate, Peter Obi, to caution his supporters from spreading falsehood capable of misinforming Nigerians about other candidates.
Spokesperson for the organisation, Bayo Onanuga, in a statement, yesterday, admonished Obi to get his supporters to desist from spreading lies, malice and denigrating other candidates, especially Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, All Progressives Congress (APC) presidential candidate.
“We have come to a point where it becomes imperative to tell Obi to show leadership. He should disavow his supporters who are employing fake news and disinformation as deliberate tools to deceive and poison the minds of unsuspecting Nigerians.”
Onanuga urged Obi to caution his supporters to allow the 2023 election be about issues that would advance the growth, progress and stability of the country.
He expressed the optimism that Nigeria would be better and the electoral process enriched if the 2023 presidential campaigns are about issues of good governance aimed at lifting millions of Nigerians out of poverty.
He added that the 2023 electioneering campaigns should not be dominated by ”the ravings of guttersnipes”, who do not wish the country well.
Onanuga noted that the TCO saw the need to appeal to Obi to caution his supporters after investigating the origin of a recent fake report in circulation.
He said the report had claimed that Ghanaian President, Nana Akufo-Addo, wrote a letter to Tinubu asking him to support Peter Obi and take care of his health.
He said the Ghana president via his official Twitter account has vehemently debunked the news as 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,” Onanuga quoted the Ghana president as saying via his Twitter account.
He added that the TCO had found out that the fake letter from Akufo-Addo was first published on June 22 by a rogue platform, whose url is worlsnews.space (sic) and site identity was World of News.
Onanuga said a content analysis of the site clearly showed that it was a Biafra news platform.
According to him, the fake news was reposted on Facebook by Peter Obi Support Group, same day, showing that Biafra campaigners and Peter Obi supporters are the same.
“Both the Facebook account and the website are replete with fake stories about Bola Tinubu, including a fake story credited to former Governor Akinwunmi Ambode of Lagos State. Alleging that Tinubu demanded N50 billion monthly payment from him.
“The spuriousness of the statement is in the evidence that Lagos did not begin to clock N50 billion revenue until after Ambode left office.
“Tinubu could not have demanded N50 billion monthly payment from Ambode when the state government didn’t make such in a month throughout the tenure of Ambode,” Onanuga said.
He added that the pirate website, which the Facebook account feeds on, also parades malicious fake news and headlines without supporting stories.