Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, the president-elect of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), has warned Peter Obi, the candidate for the Labour Party, not to disseminate malicious rumours or disparage other candidates.
Lies, misinformation, and hatred, according to his campaign organisation, will prevent Obi from winning the 2023 presidential election.
The Labour Party's candidate was instructed by the Tinubu Campaign Organization (TCO) to let election-related topics improve Nigeria's growth, progress, and stability.
Bayo Onanuga, the organization's director of media and communications, warned Obi to persuade his followers to stop disseminating misinformation, slander, and criticism of other candidates, notably Tinubu, in a statement released in Abuja.
The campaign organisation went on to say that if the 2023 presidential campaign focuses on issues of good governance that will help millions of Nigerians escape poverty rather than being dominated by the ravings of guttersnipes who do not wish the country well, both Nigeria and the electoral process will benefit.
Onanuga claimed that after looking into the source of the false information that claimed Nana Akufo-Addo, the president of Ghana, had written to Tinubu urging him to support Peter Obi and look after his health, the Tinubu Campaign Organization felt the need to ask Obi to control his supporters.
The Ghanian President, in 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 the 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 world news. 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 the Peter Obi Support Group, on the same day – clear proof that Biafra campaigners and Peter Obi supporters are the same.
“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 ₦50 billion monthly payment from him. The spuriousness of the statement is in the evidence that Lagos did not begin to clock ₦50billion revenue until after Ambode left office. Tinubu could not have demanded a billion monthly payment from Ambode when the state government didn’t make such in a month throughout the tenure of 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 a virus to your computer.
“We have come to a point where it becomes imperative to tell 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.