The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has disowned a trending document that claimed the Commission is investigating a criminal forfeiture case against Bola Ahmed Tinubu, the presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC).
The said document which surfaced on social media on Friday, had INEC’s letterhead. It indicated that the commission was investigating a 1993 case in the United States involving Tinubu’s forfeiture of some money to the US government.
Reacting to the alleged investigation, the Commission, in a statement issued by its National Commissioner and Chairman, Information and Voter Education Committee, Festus Okoye (Esq), dismissed the document, describing it as handiwork of mischief makers.
The statement read: “A press release purported to have been issued by the Commission has been trending online since yesterday, Friday, November 11, 2022.
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“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 and is liaising with a Court in the United States of America in pursuit of the same to determine a possible violation of our guidelines or the Electoral Act 2022.
“We wish to state categorically that the said press release did not emanate from the Commission nor is it pursuing the purported course of action. It is the handiwork of mischief makers and utterly fake.
“Press releases from the Commission are uploaded to the INEC press corps platform and simultaneously disseminated through our website and official social media handles.
“The public is advised to ignore the press release”.
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