Professor Mahmood Yakubu, Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, is alive.
For two days, rumour has been doing the rounds that the INEC boss was dead.
On getting back to Nigeria, he, on Wednesday, this week, had an engagement with a committee of the House of Representatives.
He also had a quarterly briefing of State RECs on Thursday.
Mr. Rotimi Oyekanmi, Chief Press Secretary to Prof. Yakubu debunked the isolated reports in the social media, announcing the death of the electoral chief.
In a statement Saturday in Abuja, Oyekanmi said the Commission’s “attention has been drawn to a fake news narrative circulated by a section of the social media claiming the purported death of the INEC Chairman, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu at a London hospital”.
According to him, the story first appeared on Monday, December 9.
“We hereby appeal to the public to disregard the rumour. Prof. Yakubu is alive, hale and hearty.
“In fact, he has not travelled to London in the last two years. He was present at an interactive meeting with the House of Representatives Committee on Electoral Matters on Wednesday, December 11.
“He also chaired the Commission’s meeting with Resident Electoral Commissioners on Thursday, December 12. Both events were widely covered on television and reported on the front pages of most newspapers yesterday, Friday, December 13.
“The public may recall that mischief-makers on the social media carried a similar fake story in 2021. Three years later, they are spreading the same rumour again.
“Those who indulge in this practice, as well as those who spread it, should be mindful of its effect not only on the individual but also the wider society.
“The Commission will continue to work with genuine media professionals to combat the scourge of fake news and the danger it poses to society,” he said.