It has been confirmed that Minister of Works and Housing, Babatunde Fashola, has distanced himself from a presidential campaign poster circulating on social media.
The social media was awash at the weekend with a poster from a group presenting him and the governor of Borno State, Prof. Babagana Zulum as presidential and vice-presidential candidates respectively of an unnamed political party.
Tagged the ‘Nigeria Project 2023’ and signed by one Abayomi Mademaku as the convener, the group said it would launch the campaign on October 2.
But in a statement by his media aide, Hakeem Bello, titled, “2023 Elections: Fashola distances self from the antics of unsolicited support groups”, the former governor said the group neither contacted him nor had his consent in issuing the invitation.
The statement read in part, “The Media Office of the Hon. Minister of Works and Housing, Mr. Babatunde Fashola, SAN, has urged well-meaning people to disregard the invitation of some Groups, operating under The Nigeria Project 2023, purportedly to the inauguration of a Support Group for the Minister and the Governor of Borno State over the 2023 elections.
“Ordinarily, the poster and the various social media reports almost instantly orchestrated on its account would have been ignored as the handwork of mischief makers.
However, it became necessary to issue this disclaimer for two key reasons.
“The first of such was to answer with a strong negative to the numerous inquiries from right thinking and well-meaning Nigerians on whether the Honorable Minister had been contacted or if the Groups had his consent in issuing the invitation.”
