TheCable

The presidential campaign of the All Progressives Congress (APC) has alleged that the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has hired social media influencers to circulate fake news against Bola Tinubu.

The APC campaign said it uncovered a “plot” by the PDP to carry out a social media “campaign of calumny by proxy” against Tinubu.

In a statement on Sunday, Bayo Onanuga, APC campaign spokesperson, said the alleged scheme was hatched at the PDP headquarters in Abuja.

Onanuga also claimed that the PDP had created parody social media accounts of some national newspapers for “political offensives” against Tinubu.

“This scurrilous campaign by the PDP has already been perfected with a dedicated team working day and night from the PDP national headquarters at Wadata House, Abuja,” the statement reads.

“The party has also recruited many social media actors to carry out the campaign of calumny by proxy.

“We uncovered this evil plot targeted to manipulate Nigerians and most especially northerners to see Asiwaju Bola Tinubu in bad light as the only way for PDP and its failing presidential campaign to have a chance at the February 25 presidential election.

“We consider it necessary at this point to advert the mind of Nigerians to this evil plan capable of causing disharmony, ill-will and needless crisis with attendant security implications in the country.

“PDP and their hired social media influencers have already started pushing their nefarious contents by spoofing and using parody social media accounts of popular newspapers and blogs to disseminate fake news with the sole aim of hoodwinking gullible Nigerians.

“Many parody social media accounts such as ‘Vanguard Hausa’, ‘DailyTrust Hausa’ have been created and also being used to circulate fake news on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, WhatsApp and other digital platforms.

“We use this medium to urge Nigerians and most especially our compatriots in Northern Nigeria not to allow themselves to be deceived.

“Atiku and PDP have nothing good to offer Nigerians other than his rabid ambition to enrich himself, family members and cronies as revealed in audio and video leaks by Atiku’s former Media Aide, Mike Achimugu.

“The APC administration of President Muhammadu Buhari is working very hard to solve many of Nigeria’s decades-long problems across sectors and it is only another APC administration of Asiwaju Bola Tinubu and Senator Kashim Shettima that can continue, sustain and improve on the trajectory of good governance that began from 2015.”