FORMER President, Goodluck Jonathan, has dismissed a media report alleging that he was offered N500billion to run against the presidential candidate of Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC), Peter Obi, to split South-South votes as entirely false and baseless.
Jonathan, in a statement by his Special Adviser on Media, r Ikechukwu Eze, urged Nigerians to disregard a fabricated report published by a “little-known website” that “falsely” attributed a statement to Jonathan claiming that he was offered such amount.
Saying the fabrication lacked the most basic standards of journalism, the statement added: “The report failed to state where or when Jonathan allegedly made such a claim, who was present or who purportedly made the alleged offer.”
Eze stated that the publication bore all the hallmarks of fake news deliberately crafted to mislead the public and drag the former President into unnecessary political controversy.
While acknowledging that the approach of a political season often brings a surge in misinformation and false attributions, Eze, however, charged Nigerians to disregard the report in its entirety and verify sensational claims before sharing them.
