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Nobel Laureate, Prof Wole Soyinka, has distanced himself from a purported tribute penned in honour of the All Progressives Congress (APC) Presidential candidate, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu.
This was contained in a statement issued by Soyinka's spokesman, Abiola Owoaje, on Friday, June 10, 2022.
The reaction comes amid a widespread tribute purportedly written by Soyinka to eulogise the former Lagos State Governor on his political accomplishments.
The tribute titled ‘Prof Wole Soyinka’s tribute to Sen Asiwaju Tinubu’, went viral on various WhatsApp platforms moments after Tinubu's emergence as the APC presidential flag-bearer.
The Noble Laureate condemned the trending post as a product of lazy thieves whose specialty is to deceive the general public with phoney social media posts for prominence.
He maintained that he neither operate nor own any social media accounts.
The statement read, “The literary luminary reiterated his position on the 2023 elections and the issues surrounding it, noting that he has no business meddling in the struggle for power by political parties in the country.
“Soyinka enjoins the general public to be on alert to the antics of faceless cowards spreading falsehood, adding that they should not partake in the despicable action of the authors by spreading the cocktail of lies.”
Recall that the playwright had earlier debunked rumours that he had endorsed Tinubu for president in 2023.
A similar post was spread on social media in January this year claiming that Soyinka had chosen the APC National Leader as his preferred presidential aspirant.
In a statement titled “Season of Fakery Galore,” on Wednesday, January 12, 2022, Soyinka distanced himself from the post saying, he has not thought about the 2023 elections let alone endorsed any aspirants for political positions.