The Chairman of the Presidential Advisory Committee Against Corruption (PACAC), Prof. Itse Sagay (SAN), on Monday denied calling for the cancellation of All Progress Congress (APC) Ward Congress held on May 5 in Imo State.
A national newspaper quoted Sagay as saying in a May 19 report that the cancellation became necessary due to the unreliability of the Congress outcome and the crisis that greeted the exercise.
“The election has to be repeated. They should cancel it and repeat it; what was done is not reliable in view of what has happened,” the PACAC chief was quoted as saying in the report.
But, in a statement, Sagay said he never spoke to any reporter on the issue, describing the report as “fake.”
He said: “The above interview is fake. It never happened. I have always willingly responded to requests for my views, on virtually any subject matter issue by members of the press.
“Therefore, there is absolutely no excuse for a reporter to cook up a story and ascribe it to me as my views during an interview.
“My so-called ‘call for the cancellation of APC ward Congress’ was fake, fraudulent and dishonest. No reporter contacted me on the matter and I could not have responded to a non-existent interview.
“This sort of forgery ultimately sours the good relationship between the press and those interviewed. I am, therefore, not surprised that no reporter’s name was credited for the false interview.”