THE President of the Senate, Ahmad Lawan, has said he did not collect N2billion to facilitate the confirmation of Prof. Mahmood Yakubu as the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission, for a second five-year tenure.
President Muhammadu Buhari had recently reappointed Mahmood for a second term and asked the Senate to confirm his appointment.
However, an online tabloid reported on Thursday that a group in the Senate, led by Lawan, demanded N2bn bribe from the nominee to facilitate his confirmation.
But the Senate President, through a statement by his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Ola Awoniyi, on Thursday, denied the allegation.
The statement read in part: “It is noteworthy that the publication, as always with its ridiculous fabricated reports, could not even expand the entertainment of its readers by providing the names of members of the fictitious group and where the group operates from.
“To be sure, that group exists only in the mischievous imagination of the writer of the fiction. We, therefore, wish to enjoin Nigerians to ignore the report as yet another incident of hallucination by the comical characters operating the fabricated news platform.
“The online medium has long earned its notoriety as a purveyor of fake news with high-profile public officials as its targets. It is well known that only the President can nominate a candidate for appointment or reappointment as Chairman of INEC.
“Only the Senate as a body can confirm or reject the appointment, after due screening of the candidate.”
The Punch
