Phrank Shaibu, the Special Assistant on Public Communications to the Peoples Democratic Party standard bearer in the February 2023 presidential election, Atiku Abubakar has described the BBC Global Disinformation Team’s report that there is no evidence to back the diploma forgery allegation against President Bola Tinubu as a hatchet job.
In a statement in reaction to the controversy by the British broadcaster, the Special Assistant claimed that the report “is part of President Tinubu administration’s propaganda programme.”
“Sometime last week when the National Broadcasting Commission issued a final warning to Arise News TV, we pointed out that the Tinubu administration was on the verge of launching a full-blown propaganda and also intimidating ‘uncooperative’ media houses into discrediting and downplaying the CSU scandal.
“Sadly, we never imagined that it would be the BBC that would become the willing tool”, he said.
Shaibu lampooned the BBC for allegedly attempting to “bamboozle Nigerians with a jaundiced report when the details are clear for everyone to see.”
Atiku’s aide alleged that the BBC investigation was carried out with a predetermined goal- to clear Tinubu.
He called on the BBC and other fact-checkers to be more circumspect, adding that their job was too sensitive to entertain errors.
The media aide, who advised media organisations to invest more in investigative journalism, noted that “If the BBC had invested in proper investigative journalism, it would have been the one uncovering some of Tinubu’s scandals instead of relying on Atiku for information on Tinubu’s certificates.”
Recall that the BBC’s Global Disinformation Team had in a fact-checking report published on Wednesday said there was no evidence that Tinubu forged the Chicago State University certificate he submitted to the Independent National Electoral Commission to contest the February presidential election.
