Olusola Fabiyi, Abuja
The Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, said the All Progressives Congress would win the 2019 general elections on the basis of its performance, irrespective of the doomsday predictions by some international financial institutions and publications.
The minister made the boast in Lagos on Friday when he visited the corporate headquarters of Channels Television, in furtherance of the National Campaign Against Fake News, which was launched by the Federal Government in July.
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In a statement, Mohammed said the negative predictions against the APC-led Federal Government by the British financial institution, HSBC, and the Intelligence Unit of the Economist, were based on fake premises, thus qualifying such predictions as fake news.
He said, “Talking about fake news, we expect that those who have been deeply affected by our policies will mount a sustained campaign against this administration in the weeks and months to come. In fact, they have already started.
“We have all read that the Intelligence Unit of the Economist said the Peoples Democratic Party would defeat the ruling APC in 2019. We have also read that HSBC said Nigeria’s economic development would be stunted if President Buhari gets a second term.
“Let me state clearly that these reports are based on fake premises and, therefore, qualify as fake news. It is a psychological warfare by those who have been badly hit by our policies.
“For example, our fight against corruption has meant that many financial institutions, especially banks, that fed fat on the proceeds of corruption are no longer able to do that.
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“Also, international publications that used to feed fat on questionable supplements paid for by the Federal Government have seen a drastic reduction in such patronage, as the administration cuts down on frivolous spending that was the order of the day in the past.
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