By Inusa Ndahi, Maiduguri
A member of the Borno State House of Assembly, representing Nganzai state constituency, Hon Mohammed Ali Gajiram, has distanced himself from a purported, concocted and re-edited video portraying him to have threatened members of his constituency to cast their votes for candidates of the All Progressives Congress, APC, come 2023 or risk their lives.
Gajiram, an Islamic scholar and also Imam to one of the Jumaat Mosques in Maiduguri, expressed shock, and wonder how a group of people who embarks on pure blackmail and mischief can even dream of going after him, by sharing a distorted and concocted video now trending on social media, just to tarnish his reputation and that of his family.
The lawmaker stated this in a press statement he signed on Tuesday, a copy which was made available to CompassNG correspondent in Maiduguri.
He said, “My attention has been drawn to a fake video clip trending on social media platforms that while promoting and campaigning for our candidate for the Marte/Monguno/Nganzai federal constituency of Borno State, I threatened my people in Kanuri language that if they don’t vote for the APC, their lives would be at risk.
“Ordinarily, I am not surprised to watch the doctored and concocted video, in which some portions of the clip were cut off to satisfy those behind such fake and mischievous act, but for the purpose of clarity, let me put the record straight.
“On no any occasion did I threaten any of my people to vote for the APC come 2023 or risk been killed.
“As a lawmaker and also an Islamic scholar, I have full respect for human lives, and free and fair election at all times.
“I am an advocate against political violence, and that was why while addressing my party supporters, I drew their attention to some opposition parties who were campaigning/telling people to vote out APC or risk been killed, unfortunately, some mischief makers concocted such video, and turned it upside down against what really transpired.
“Electoral violence poses a tremendous threat to voters on polling day, and so, it is disheartening when some mischief makers re-edited or doctored a fake video of one of my political gathering, which they shared on social media just to score a cheap political point.”
