A trending Press Release purportedly issued by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) said the Commission had commenced an investigation into a case of criminal forfeiture against the Presidential candidate of the All Progressives Party Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
The statement alleged that INEC was liaising with the Northern Illinois District Court in order to establish more facts about the case before taking a decision.
“We are also studying the judgement in order to determine whether offences which contradict the INEC guidelines and Electoral Act 2022, has been committed,” it read in part.
HOW TRUE IS THIS CLAIM?
The purported statement released on Friday 11th November bore semblance with previously published statements by the Commission, signed with a signature that matched that of INEC’s National Commissioner and Chairman of the Information and Voter Education Committee Festus Okoye.
However, the Commission on Saturday distanced itself from the statement, saying it is the handiwork of mischief makers and utterly fake.
“A Press Release purported to have been issued by the Commission has been trending online since yesterday Friday 11th November 2022. It claims that the Commission has commenced investigation into a case of criminal forfeiture against one of the Presidential candidates in the forthcoming General Election.
“The said Press Release did not emanate from the Commission nor is it pursuing the purported course of action.
“Press Releases from the Commission are uploaded to the INEC Press Corps platform and simultaneously through our website and official social media handles,” INEC tweeted via its verified handle @inecnigeria.
Further checks by TheNewsGuru.com (TNG) on the Commission’s website for Press Releases published on its verified Twitter handle did not show results for Press Statements. What this means is that not all Press Releases published on the Commission’s social media handles are published on the website as claimed.
Verdict:
The purported Press Released has been debunked by the Commission as fake and the public is advised to disregard the information.