The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has denied its alleged investigation of the presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Mr. Bola Tinubu, over his alleged indictment by a court in the United States and subsequent forfeiture of funds.
Recall that Tinubu has been in the eye of the storm lately following the release of documents suggesting that money belonging to him and believed to have been proceeds of drug trafficking was confiscated by the United States government.
During the weekend, a press release purported to have been issued by INEC surfaced claiming that the Commission had commenced an investigation into the case of criminal forfeiture against Tinubu.
The letter, signed by INEC’s national commissioner and chairman information and voter education committee, Mr. Festus Okoye and dated November 11, 2022, stated that the commission was liaising with 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.
We endeavour to expedite the process and shall communicate the results of our findings together with our decision to the general public within 10 working days from today’s date,” the letter stated.
In its reaction, INEC stated categorically in a statement that that the said press releases did not emanate from it; neither was it pursuing any investigation against the APC candidate.
The commission also stated that it had no plans to investigate Tinubu for alleged drug trafficking.
“A press release purported to have been issued by the Commission has been trending online since yesterday Friday 11th November 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,” said INEC.
“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,” INEC said.
