Wilson Adekumola
The Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, has accused opposition party for spreading fake news to distort 2023 general elections.
While making this accusation at a news conference in Abuja on Tuesday,he said the opposition antics is dangerous and capable of undermining next month’s election.
He said, ” Please permit me to make a brief remark about the increasing wave of fake news and disinformation, permeating especially the social media space, in the run-up to the general elections.
“With about three weeks to the Presidential and National Assembly elections on Feb. 25th, I can say, unequivocally, that there has been a worrisome and astronomical increase in the use of fake news and disinformation, making this a clear and present danger to the success of the elections. This increase is undoubtedly the work of some destabilizing agents, some of them linked to the opposition.
“They arechurning out fake news and disinformation on an industrial scale. Their sole aim is to destabilize the electoral process and plunge the nation into crisis.
“I have always said that this government will not stand by and allow some miscreants with access to phones and data to destabilize the country. I am therefore warning the purveyors of fake news and disinformation to desist. The government is not and cannot be helpless. We have a range of options to checkmate the use of fake news and disinformation, and we are looking at the best options to ensure that the agents of destabilization do not thwart the success of the elections with their unscrupulous resort to fake news and disinformation. A word is enough for the wise.”