The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has denied reports that it is investigating a presidential candidate over criminal forfeiture of funds.

The commission stated this in a statement released on Saturday by Festus Okoye, the national commissioner and chairman of its Information and Voter Education Committee.

Although the commission did not name anyone in particular, the candidate in question is believed to be Bola Tinubu of the All Progressives Congress (APC), about whom a US court recently released documents showing links to largescale drug peddling.

Earlier in the week, court documents made public on August 10, 2022 by the US court sitting in the district of Illinois, eastern division, were brought to public notice by Peoples Gazette, the court affirming that Tinubu and his cronies engaged in drug peddling “on a large scale and the operations were substantial”.

The reports subsequently spawned claims that Tinubu was being investigated by the electoral umpire.

The court had “ordered that the funds in the account 263226700 held by First Heritage Bank in the name of Bola Tinubu represent proceeds of narcotics trafficking or were involved in financial transactions”, which run foul of US laws.

It was further held by the said court that, “First Heritage Bank shall issue a check in the amount of $460,000 payable to Federal reserve Bank of Chicago and that the funds shall be disposed of according to the law”.

READ MORE: US Court Releases Documents Linking Tinubu to Largescale Drug Peddling

INEC’s statement on Saturday read: “A press release purported to have been issued by the commission has been trending online since yesterday Friday 11th November 2022.”

“It claims that the commission has commenced investigation into a case of criminal forfeiture against one of the presidential candidates in the forthcoming general election and is liaising with a court in the United States of America in pursuit of same to determine possible violation of our guidelines or the Electoral Act 2022.

“We wish to state categorically that the said press release did not emanate from the commission nor is it pursuing the purported course of action. It is the handiwork of mischief makers and utterly fake.

“Press releases from the commission are uploaded to the INEC Press Corps platform and simultaneously disseminated through our website and official social media handles. The public is advised to ignore the press release.”