A strong associate of the national chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Professor Yakubu Mahmood, Ms Faith Nwadishe, has debunked his rumoured death, saying is “lies from pit of hell”.
Responding to an inquiry by our Correspondent about the reported death of Mahmood on Saturday in London, Nwadishe, a reliable and long standing associate of the INEC chairman dismissed the report, and further described it as “a mere rumour”.
The executive director Center for Transparency Advocate (CTA), Nwadishe, a credible source stated emphatically that the INEC chairman was not dead.
The social media has been abuzz with reports of the “death” of Professor Mahmood. One of the reports which surfaced on Monday, December 9, 2024, claimed that Yakubu died in a London hospital.
Also reacting to the spreading death rumour the Commission in a statement dismissed the report. In a statement issued by the Chief Press Secretary to the Chairman, INEC, Mr. Rotimi Oyekanmi on
Saturday December 14, the Commission further insisted that the INEC chairman has not travelled to London in the past two years.
The statement read, “Our 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.
“The story first appeared on Monday, 9th December 2024.
“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, 11th December 2024.
“He also chaired the Commission’s meeting with Resident Electoral Commissioners on Thursday, 12th December 2024. Both events were widely covered on television and reported on the front pages of most newspapers yesterday, Friday 13th December 2024.
“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”.
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