There are reports circulating in the media allegedly based on a leaked audio tape of Tinubu at a crowded public meeting of APC supporters in Lagos on Feb. 14.
The reports claimed that Tinubu boasted that he stole money.
Tinubu through his Media Officer, Mr Tunde Rahman, said in Lagos, however, that he could never have uttered what was ascribed to him.
He said that in a desperate attempt to paint him in a poor light, the reports grossly mistranslated his statements to imply corruption and election malpractice.
L-R: APC National Leader, Bola Tinubu, President Muhammadu Buhari and Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi [Facebook/Femi Adesina]
Politics is an arena where mischief and exaggeration may not be the best craft but are permitted excesses of the trade.
However, when people engage in wilful defamation, they have crossed the line into the impermissible.
I addressed a meeting attended by hundreds of people. The meeting was open to the public at large. Moreover, the media was present and visible.
There can be no leak involved when a statement is publicly made and the media present there.
The reports claim that I boasted that I stole money. The merchants of this outlandishness used the fact that I was speaking Yoruba at the meeting as the basis for their falsehood.
