Fashola denies allegation of drafting judgement for Presidential Election Tribunal
By Emma Ogbuehi
The immediate past Minister of Works and Housing, Mr. Babatunde Fashola, on Sunday debunked the story making the rounds in the social media that he was involved in drafting the judgement for the Presidential Election Petition Tribunal (PEPT) Judges.
The PEPT last week reserved judgment in the petitions challenging the elction of Bola Tinubu in the February 25, presidential election.
But some bloggers alleged last week that Fashola, former governor of Lagos State, who is a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), together with some other unnamed senior lawyers was writing the judgement for the PEPT to favour President Tinubu
Vehemently denying the allegation which he called baseless and defamatory, Fashola, who delivered the 2022 TheNiche Annual Lecture, expressed his disappointment with the spread of the false information on social media platforms.
A statement by his Special Adviser on Media, Hakeem Bello, which was sent to TheNiche said the former minister has called on security agencies to take action against those responsible for spreading fake news.
The statement reads in part: “In response to the allegation, Fashola clarified that he has been away from Abuja for an extended period of time, rendering the claims entirely unfounded.
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“He condemned the individuals behind these dangerous allegations, referring to them as agents of destabilization.
“Fashola has initiated the process of filing formal petitions against the offensive tweets and online reports with the management of the microblogging site, X (formerly known as Twitter), and the National Communications Commission (NCC).
“He urged the relevant security agencies to treat this matter with utmost seriousness, as it strikes at the heart of judicial independence.
“The former minister believes that these allegations may be part of a wider campaign to undermine the judiciary by those who seek to manipulate the institution for their own gain. He emphasizes the importance of unmasking the perpetrators and their sponsors and ensuring that they face the appropriate legal consequences.”
Fashola urged members of the public to disregard the false allegations and asked them to report any individuals involved in spreading such dangerous fabrications to the relevant security agencies.