By Rita Enemuru, Reporting
The President of Ghana, Nana Akufo-Addo has debunked news on writing to the candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Bola Ahmed Tinubu requesting him to support the Labour Party candidate, Peter Obi in the 2023 general elections.
He said he never asked such of Tinubu as contained in the assumed letter making the rounds on Social Media.
President of Ghana via his official Twitter account has vehemently debunked the fake news as a 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,” the tweet read.
In the same vein, the Tinubu Campaign Organisation, in a statement issued by its Director of Media and Communications, Mr Bayo Onanuga, appealed to Peter Obi to call his supporters to desist from “spreading lies, malice and denigrating other candidates, especially Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu.”
The statement stating that the spread of fake news is not a guarantee for winning the 2023 presidential election added that campaigns should be with the intent of advancing the growth, progress and stability of Nigeria.
The organisation alleged that “content analysis of the site that made the news, clearly showed that it is a Biafra news platform.”
“We have come to a point where it becomes imperative to tell Mr. Obi to show leadership and disavow his supporters who are employing fake news and disinformation as deliberate tools to deceive and poison the minds of unsuspecting Nigerians.
“The fake news was reposted on Facebook by Peter Obi Support Group, same day – a clear proof that Biafra campaigners and Peter Obi supporters are the same.
“We have found that the fake news about Akufo-Addo’s letter was first published on June 22 by a rogue platform, whose url reads as worlsnews.space (sic) and site identity as World of News.
“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, 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 Mr. Ambode.
“The pirate website, which the Facebook account feeds on also parades malicious fake news and headlines such as “ I am old, but my blood is young, please vote for me – Tinubu begs youth.
“There is also the most wicked of all headlines: When I became president, I will Build more prison (sic) for Igbo’s and IPOB members – Tinubu.
“The big surprise in all of these is that all the headlines have no supporting stories, and clicking them may bring virus to your computer,” The statement reads.
TCO further states that Nigeria will be better for it and the electoral process will be enriched if the 2023 presidential campaign sticks to issues of good governance that will lift millions of Nigerians out of poverty rather than being dominated by the ravings of guttersnipes, who do not wish the country well.
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