ABUJA  – The All Progressives Con­gress (APC) Presiden­tial Campaign Council has asked the Police to undertake a thorough investiga­tion of the source of the forged document purported to have been issued by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) against its presidential candidate, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu.

In a statement signed by Bayo Onanuga, Director, Media and Publicity APC Presidential Campaign Council, the party also lashed purveyors of such fake news against its candidate, including their media collabora­tors, to desist from the sustained libelous attacks and disinforma­tion.

The statement warned that the campaign “shall no longer al­low the prevailing recklessness and utter disregard for profes­sional judgment to continue un­challenged”.

The APC squarely placed the negative attack on Tinubu on the opposition political parties, specially naming the PDP and Labour parties as culprits.

“The opposition People’s Dem­ocratic Party and its subsidiary Labour Party having realised they have no sure path to victory in the February 2023 presidential election, upped their campaign of calumny, disinformation and misinformation on Saturday by sponsoring fake news against the All Progressives Congress Presi­dential Candidate, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu.

“They did it by forging the letter-head of the Independent National Electoral Commission and the signature of its national commissioner, Festus Okoye.

“The forged statement pur­portedly issued by INEC was dis­seminated to deceive the gullible public that INEC was investigat­ing allegations against Asiwaju Tinubu that, they desperately hoped, will ultimately lead to the disqualification of the frontline APC Presidential candidate.

“We are not in any way sur­prised by the antics of the sink­ing opposition parties. What we found shocking was how quickly some compromised media organ­isations gulped the falsehood hook, line and sinker, without attempting to verify.

“We understand why they did so: the forgery and its narrative fit their mindset of throwing over­board every known virtue of eth­ical journalism and professional­ism, as they work in cahoot with the opposition to defame Asiwaju Tinubu”.

Onanuga said that while there is nothing new in the at­tack begun way back in 2003 , he declared that “those who took this damned path of infamy lost their bet because, as he noted “Asiwa­ju Tinubu stands rock solid and indestructible”.

“Our candidate has consis­tently said he will make this campaign about issues that affect the lives of Nigerians and how to proffer workable and enduring solutions that will improve qual­ity of life of our people who are looking for leaders at all levels to improve their lives and sow them seeds of prosperity in our country.”