Nobel laureate, Prof Wole Soyinka has distanced himself from a statement attributed to him endorsing the presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress, Bola Tinubu.
Punch reported that the social media post also purportedly indicated that the elder statesman described the Peoples Democratic Party’s presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, and ex-President Olusegun Obasanjo, in uncharitable words.
The statement read, “Quote me anywhere, Nigerians don’t need the likes of Atiku and Obasanjo to lead them again. We have tested the two: Atiku is corrupt and Obasanjo is a liar. Both of them are greedy and self-centered…”
“Anybody, any cabal, any Viju milk activist, attempting to humiliate Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu must have me to contend with. An average PDP man is angry with Asiwaju because he brought them to their knees. If anyone thinks that bringing down Asiwaju is his project, that mission will not only crash but it will boomerang. He owns Lagos! I hear you! Ask your grandfather and parents how they acquired your so-called family land. Is it God that allocated it to them?”
Reacting to the post, the playwright in an email to Punch on Sunday, he said, “Professor Soyinka did NOT at any time or on any occasion issue such a statement. It is simply the works of peddlers of fake news and falsehood, who profit from Misinformation to gain political advantages. The media and members of the public are advised to ignore the message or any other political message that addresses or targets any political party or political actor.’’
In the past, doctored videos and distorted statements had been credited to the essayist which he distanced himself from.
In one of his responses to the fake posts, Soyinka noted that one can continue to monitor and respond to the concoctions of the addicts of falsehood, and their assiduous promoters who had yet to learn to wipe the filth off their tablets.