Report by Halimah Olamide
The Presidential Campaign Council of the ruling party, the All Progressives Congress (APC), has issued a disclaimer concerning a website allegedly out to circulate false news about its presidential candidate, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
This was disclosed in a press statement signed by the Media Director of the APC-PCC, Bayo Onanuga on Sunday 19th, Februarry, which was made available to the NPO Reports.
“The All Progressives Congress Presidential Campaign Council has just stumbled on a rogue website, www. Igbotimesmagazine.online, out to disseminate false and malicious information about Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, the presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress.
According to the statement, in its latest false news, the site claimed that some EFCC operatives, on the order of President Muhammadu Buhari raided the “underground home” of Tinubu. It claimed that N400 billion of the new notes was recovered from there. The story, which notably lacked the essential “when, where and how” ingredients of any news story, went viral.
The release however revealed, that the EFCC has since issued a formal statement on the purported raid by its men as a fake story the public should disregard.
“The dubious website, in its fake story, claimed investigations are still ongoing as to which bank manager made such money available to Tinubu, it then admitted its own absurdity when it wrote that “the money recovered in Tinubu’s “underground house” is equivalent of “the entire money printed for the whole Nigeria” by the CBN.
“So, if Tinubu alone has all the money printed by Godwin Emefiele’s CBN, how do you account for the billions distributed by the apex bank to all the banks, including operators of POS?
“The site, which on Twitter and Facebook appears to have links with the Labour Party, went further, in another post, to claim that President Muhammadu has ordered the arrest of the bank manager that made the phantom money available to the APC candidate.
“In a previous post two weeks ago, the site had claimed that ‘an angry mob blocked N3 billion of new notes heading to Tinubu’s house’.”
The release further included, that the site claimed the Federal Government planned to borrow money from kidnappers in Kaduna because they have more money than our country.
While giving credit of the misleading news to Alhaji Lai Mohammed, the Minister of Information and Culture.
The PCC has therefore distanced itself from such news and has urged Nigerians to be wary of every piece of news and information emanating from the site, and its social media handles.
“We want to warn Nigerians to be wary of every piece of news emanating from the site, and its social media handles.
“There will be many of such sites as some candidates become desperate to win at all costs, in fulfilment of some rogue and rigged opinion polls by ANAP Foundation and Nextier, shunning all decent norms and rules.
“The igbotimesmagazine.online, with its affiliated social media handles exists for no good of our country.
It is out to misinform and mislead our people and disseminate malicious information on “Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, in the run up to the 25 February election, which the opposition candidates, including Peter Obi of Labour Party, are bound to lose.
“We are not surprised that the opposition has embarked on sponsoring a website and social media handles, whose owners are unknown and which lacks physical address or even an email.
“We urge the authorities to fish out the people behind the site, that is recklessly dishing out fake news, before more damage is done to our polity.” Onanuga said.