Nigeria’s former minister of works and housing, Babatunde Raji Fashola, has denied writing the judgement for the ongoing Presidential Election Petition Tribunal.

A Twitter user, Jackson Ude, had called out the former Lagos state governor and some lawyers working for the All Progressives Congress (APC) for allegedly drafting a judgement for the tribunal judges.

“Former Lagos state governor and former minister for works, Babatunde Fashola and some APC lawyers are allegedly writing the judgement Bola Tinubu and APC intend to hand over to the Presidential Elections Petition Tribunal,” Ude said in a recent tweet.

However, in a statement on Sunday, August 6, Fashola’s special adviser on media, Hakeem Bello, insisted that the allegation is “baseless and defamatory”.

Bello further called on security agencies to take action against those spreading such fake news, while also claiming it was part of a plot to undermine the judiciary.

“In response to the allegation, Fashola clarified that he has been away from Abuja for an extended period of time, rendering the claims entirely unfounded,” the statement read.

“The former minister believes that these allegations may be part of a wider campaign to undermine the judiciary by those who seek to manipulate the institution for their own gain.”