The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has denied the claim that it is investigating a criminal forfei­ture case against Bola Tinu­bu, presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC).

On Friday, a document with INEC’s letterhead, which claimed that the commission was investigating a 1993 case in the United States involving Tinubu forfeiting some money to the US government, had sur­faced on social media platforms.

Prior to the claim, docu­ments had been shared on so­cial media, which showed that Tinubu had forfeited $460,000 to the US government.

Speaking on the forfeiture, Festus Keyamo, spokesman of the APC presidential campaign council, had dismissed claims that the case linked Tinubu to il­licit drugs, adding that the sum forfeited was tax deductions.

In a statement issued on Sat­urday, Festus Okoye, chairman, INEC Information and Voter Education Committee, said the document claiming the com­mission was investigating the US case on Tinubu was “fake”.

“A Press Release purported to have been issued by the Com­mission has been trending on­line since yesterday Friday, 11th November, 2022,” the statement read.

It added: “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 same to determine 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.”