APC campaign alleges Labour Party behind website spreading fake news on Tinubu

The All Progressives Congress Presidential Campaign Council has raised the alarm over a website allegedly spreading fake news about the party’s presidential candidate, Bola Ahmed Tinubu.

In a statement issued by its Director of Media and Publicity, Bayo Onanuga, on Saturday, the council claimed the website had some links with the Labour Party.

The website, according to Onanuga, alleged that some Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) operatives raided Tinubu’s home on President Muhammadu Buhari’s directive.

He added the website also claimed that N400 billion new notes were recovered from the former Lagos State governor’s residence in the Ikoyi area of the state.

The spokesman accused the opposition of sponsoring dubious websites to spread lies against the APC candidate out of desperation to win Saturday’s election.

The EFCC had since dismissed the claim in a statement issued by its Head of Media and Publicity, Wilson Uwujaren.

Onanuga, therefore, charged the security agencies to fish out those behind the fake website.

The statement read: “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.

“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 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 to ‘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 Buhari 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 claimed that ‘an angry mob blocked N3 billion of new notes heading to Tinubu’s house’.

“Other fake news on the site included one that claimed the Federal Government planned to borrow money from kidnappers in Kaduna because they have more money than our country. It credited the misleading news to Alhaji Lai Mohammed, the Minister of Information and Culture.

READ ALSO:EFCC denies raiding Tinubu’s home, recovering N400bn

“We want to warn Nigerians to be wary of every piece of the 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 exist 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 the 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.”

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