By Abubakar Yusuf.

With the political firmament becoming tensed by the day in the run-up to the 2023 general elections, the media space is getting awash with fake news majorly directed at maligning the hard-earned integrity of worthy citizens and political opponents. This is the position shared by Alex Njoku, an Activist and Executive Director of Democracy for Good Governance Initiative.

In the strategy of the purveyors of these falsehoods, Njoku stated that “cutting down opponents, you consider threats to your political aspiration is believed to be a sure way of gaining mileage in a political race; and in a contest, where there can only be one winner, ensuring that your opponent is bereft of the required positive image is a potent weapon for any political battle.

This image assassination is however not limited to the direct opponent but also their associates as this will help in discrediting the Party and political structure.

An example according to Njoku is the fabricated report recently published on Sahara Reporters alleging that the National Security Adviser, Babagana Monguno allegedly looted funds meant to tackle insecurity in Nigeria to acquire properties worth billions of naira in Dubai, United Arab Emirates (UAE), UK and US without proofs.

In the same vein, some fake news merchants have also gone to town alleging that the Senior Special Assistant to the President on SDGs, Princess Adejoke Orelope-Adefulire backed out of the senatorial quest after it was discovered that she holds forged basic school certificates. But the Presidential Adviser has however maintained a dignified silence as sources around her dismissed the allegation wave of the hand.

Contrary to the information in the rumor mill, it was learned that the Presidential Adviser never indicated an interest in the contest but was rather under pressure by some stakeholders to join the race.

Realizing the pedigree of Princess Adejoke, the stakeholders also went ahead to procure the expression of interest and nomination forms for her. But she eventually turned down the offer as it will distract her from her current national assignment of coordinating the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals in Nigeria, where she has performed remarkably.

It could be recalled that President Muhammadu Buhari alongside other World Leaders, committed to the implementation of Sustainable Development Goals in 2015 and has been implementing the goals to the benefit of Nigerians.

The sterling performance of Nigeria in the implementation of the global agenda has been attracting commendations from local and international stakeholders, including the UN Chief.

Njoku advised the media to be wary of jobless peddlers of falsehood and malicious allegations targeted at destroying the image of their victims. He noted that this has been one of the reasons most responsible and highly qualified people are unwilling to step into the murky waters of politics for fear of having their image smeared.