The Tinubu Campaign Organisation has called on the presidential candidate of the Labour Party, Peter Obi, to call his supporters to order and allow the 2023 general election circle to be about issues that will advance the growth, progress, and stability of Nigeria.
The Director of Media and Communications, Tinubu Campaign Organisation, Bayo Onanuga, made this known via a statement issued on Wednesday.
Onanuga also urged Obi to warn his supporters to “desist from spreading lies, malice and denigrating other candidates, especially Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu.”
He added that the country would be better for the citizens and the electoral process would be enriched if the 2023 presidential campaign sticks to issues of good governance that would lift millions of Nigerians out of poverty rather than being dominated by the “ravings of guttersnipes, who do not wish the country well”.
“The Tinubu Campaign Organisation saw the need to appeal to Mr. Obi to rein in his supporters after investigating the origin of the fake report claiming that the Ghanaian President, Nana Akufo-Addo wrote a letter to the All Progressives Congress Presidential Candidate, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, asking him to support Peter Obi and take care of his health.
“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,” said President of Ghana via Twitter.
“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.
“A content analysis of the site clearly showed that it is a Biafra news platform. 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,” Onanuga stated.
The TCO spokesman further described as “fake”, the report credited to the former governor of Lagos State, Akinwunmi Ambode, that Tinubu demanded N50 billion monthly payment from him.
He added: “The spuriousness of the statement is in the evidence that Lagos did not begin to clock N50billion revenue until after Ambode left office.
“Tinubu could not have demanded N50billion 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.
“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,” Onanuga stated.
Meanwhile, the presidential candidate of the Labour Party, Peter Obi, has said some of his opponents originated fake news, published them under false names and ascribed them to him or his supporters.
Obi made this known in reaction to a warning by the presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Bola Tinubu, to stop the former’s supporters from “spreading lies, malice and denigrating other candidates”.
Tinubu, in a statement issued on Wednesday by his campaign spokesperson, Bayo Onanuga, also urged Obi to call his (Peter Obi) supporters to order and allow the 2023 general election circle to be about issues that will advance the growth, progress, and stability of Nigeria.
Reacting, the Labour Party presidential standard-bearer, in a statement issued by his Media Adviser, Valentine Obienyem, said the statement by Onanuga advising candidates to “desist from spreading lies, malice and denigrating other candidates” mirrored what Obi had propagated over the years.
He said if supporters were mindful of this, some articles published in some newspapers against Obi would not have been published, including those with offensive titles.
Obienyem said right from Obi’s position as a governor, he was not known for the habit of attacking people or building lies against others.
On the alleged fake letter from the President of Ghana and the alleged request of N50 billion monthly payment, Obienyem said while Obi was not bothered about their authenticity, it was wickedness to link them to his supporters, stressing that any publication from Obi’s group was always properly signed and the source was clearly spelt out.
Obi’s Media Adviser added that the former governor of Anambra State has thrown his weight behind the call by Tinubu for the campaign, whenever it starts, to be based on issues and not personality.
