Yusuf Datti, vice-presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP), has disassociated himself from various social media accounts attributed to him.
Mr Datti said this at a news conference in Abuja on Monday, describing the accounts as fake, because he has not been on social media for about a decade.
He said that some years back, suspected impostors opened various social media accounts in his name without his knowledge or approval, prompting him to lodge complaints which were never attended to by the operators.
“I hereby dissociate my humble self from the creation, ownership and operation of any such social media accounts.
“I equally declare that all exchanges and communications therefrom are without my knowledge or input in any way whatsoever.
“I humbly call on the general public on and offline to disregard any and all exchanges and communications from the fake social media accounts,” he said.
Mr Datti also called on the social media platforms owners, creators and operators to realise the dangers their highly valued technologies portend to the society.
He urged them to rise to the challenge of preventing further creation and use of fake accounts on social media.
“I call on the discerning general public, particularly our dear Obedient and useful followers to exercise patience until the resolution of these complaints after which we genuinely communicate towards rescuing Nigeria,” he said.
Mr Datti said that on May 24 he withdrew from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Kaduna state governorship primaries on grounds of divergent principles.
“From Jun 25, I began receiving indications of a possible calling to serve my nation again, this time under LP which culminated in my unveiling as the Vice-Presidential candidate of the party on July 8.
“I was interviewed by BBC immediately after the event, only to find contents of the said interview misrepresented by another social media page.
“A complaint was immediately made and this page eventually removed the misrepresented news article but only after much damage had been done,” he said.
According to Mr Datti, ever since, indications began to appear about him joining LP, more impostors hurriedly opened more accounts in his name in most cases misspelled or in wrong format.
He said that complaints were duly lodged and registered with the relevant host platforms to no avail.
“I must acknowledge and appreciate the diligence of well-meaning followers who were quick to observe and object to these accounts on basis of their good knowledge of me,” he said.
Mr Datti said that some of these communications have been and continue to be premeditated and designed to set him against legitimate and established responsible religious organisations.
He said that in some cases they portrayed him negatively in relation to certain sentiments and core values of our society.
“There is sufficient justification to conclude that those unholy acts against a real change agent at a politically sensitive period may be sponsored by opponents and enemies of progress.
“This is to disparage me or stain my image and distract the party from the noble objective of rescuing Nigeria,” he said.
(NAN)
