… Says Mischief makers Behind The Fake News
From John Adams, Minna
The Senator Representing Niger East Senatorial District, Alhaji Sani Musa has distanced himself from a viral video and online publications linking him with a purported arrest of Syndicate that manipulated the BVAS system that disrupted the transmission of the results of the Presidential and National Assembly elections electronically from the polling unit to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) server in Abuja.
Senator Sani Musa said contrary to reports in some online media, he was neither arrested nor invited by the security Agents, saying that the story linking him with the syndicate was not only false but mischievous and a calculated attempt to rubbish his reputations.
Reacting to the development in Minna, the Senator-elect pointed out that the statement by CSP Oumuyiwa Adwjobi, the Force Public Relation Officer, Force Headquarters in Abuja debunking any arrest in connection with the BVAS controversy has not only vindicated him but corrected the misinformation.
It could be recalled that some online publications including electronic media had alleged that some personalities, including Senator Sani Musa were arrested and being interrogated by the police for their connection with the syndicate that manipulated the BVAS Machines that crashed the system.
But the police in a statement by the Force Public Relation Officer, Force Headquarters, Abuja and signed by CSP Olumuyiwa Adejobi, debunked the reports, saying that “the trending news in the media confirming the arrest of some individual in Maitama Abuja with electoral materials and some Bi-Model Voters Accreditation System (BVAS) Machines by operatives of the Nigeria Police Force is false”.
The Police in the statement urged well meaning members of the public to discountenance the false and misconstrued narratives being spread by some sections of the media about the arrest of these individuals and their link with BVAS manipulation.
The statement further urged Reporters and media houses “to endeavor to cross check their fact and do diligence and ascertain the veracity of the information on the public space before spreading such to avoid being victims of the “breaking news syndrome”.
According to Senator Musa the growing level of fake news in the country is capable of setting the country on fire, stressing that mischief makers are responsible for the spread of this fake news which he said is capable of causing disaffection between the populace and the state actors.
He maintained that the country is at her critical moment in our democratic journey and therefore warned those behind the spread of fake news capable of igniting crisis in the country to desist from such act, adding that “what we need at the moment as a country is prayers to overcome the challenges at our hands and put the country on the pact of development”.