12th January, 2023
Former President, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo has broken the silence on his purported plan to rig the 2023 presidential election in favour of the Labour Party’s candidate, Peter Obi.
There have been unverified reports that Obasanjo allegedly gave the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) N5 billion to rig next month’s presidential election in favour of Obi.
“The former President, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo is not responsible for the viral stories on some discredited platforms on the forthcoming general elections in Nigeria,” his spokesman, Kehinde Akinyemi said in a statement on Thursday.
Akinyemi, Special Assistant on Media to the former President, emphasised that the viral trending story on the alleged plan by Obasanjo to collude with electoral body in the Presidential election of February 25 was completely false.
“Also, apart from the letters dated January 1, 2023 respectively, one which was addressed to the Nigerian youth and the other to Prof. Toyin Falola on his 70th birthday, there has been no other public or private letter written to anybody by the former President.
“The reading public is for the umpteenth time, reminded that only a statement duly signed by His Excellency, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo or by his Media Assistant, Kehinde Akinyemi are to be allowed into the media space.
“If need be, necessary checks can be made to confirm the authenticity of such documents before publication to avoid any embarrassment,” Akinyemi said.