Fake news – APC reacts to report of Tinubu inciting governors against Buhari over naira notes

The All Progressives Congress (APC) presidential campaign council has dismissed as fake news, a report that the party’s presidential candidate, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, asked governors elected on the party’s platform to disregard President Muhammadu Buhari’s orders on the redesign of naira notes.

The report followed the Kaduna State Governor, Nasir El-Rufai, and others’ insistence that the old N200, N500, and N1000 notes remain legal tender pending the determination of the suit challenging the redesign of naira notes by the Supreme Court.

President Buhari had in a nationwide broadcast on Thursday extended the validity of the old N200 notes till April 10.

He also declared that the old N500 and N1000 notes had ceased to be legal tender.

The council’s Director of Media and Publicity, Bayo Onanuga, made the clarification in a statement on Friday in Abuja.

He said: “Our attention has been drawn to the fake viral news, claiming that Tinubu has asked APC governors to ignore President Buhari’s broadcast and enforce the Supreme Court ruling on the re-circulation of old naira notes.

“The publication by the Peoples Gazette is fake; Tnubu never issued such an order.

“Mr. Dele Alake, the APC-PCC Adviser on Media and Communications never issued such advisory on behalf of Tinubu.”

READ ALSO: Tinubu counsels CBN to allow co-existence of old and new Naira notes for 12 months

He added that the message quoted by the platform and randomly shared on WhatsApp was not written by Alake.

Onanuga argued that since the crisis on the redesign of the naira notes started, Tinubu had been calling for calm as the Federal Government tried to find out a solution to the problem.

The director added: “He has offered a six-point suggestion to lessen the anguish our people are facing in trying to get money from the banks.

“He has also held several meetings with President Buhari, his leader, over the matter.

“It is thus inconceivable and unthinkable that he would instruct APC governors to disregard President Buhari’s order on the currency matter.

“Governors who have so far declared this line of action said clearly that they were acting on the ruling of the Supreme Court, the highest court in the land.”

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