Multiple statements have been attributed to Nigeria’s President Bola Ahmed Tinubu over the planned nationwide protest, tagged #EndBadGovernance, scheduled to begin on August 1, 2024.
In a viral open letter purportedly issued by the presidency, Tinubu allegedly promised several reforms, including scrapping the office of the First Lady, selling off presidential aircraft, restoring fuel and electricity subsidies, and implementing an e-governance system.
The open letter, titled “President Tinubu Speaks,” was posted on the Nigeria Business Network Facebook group, which has over 155,000 members, on July 27, 2024.
Nigerian youths had announced plans to stage nationwide protests from August 1 to 10, to express displeasures over food inflation and the economic hardship in the country. On July 23, President Tinubu urged that the protests be shelved as the government was working on addressing their concerns. The Minister of Information, Mohammed Idris, disclosed this to State House correspondents after a meeting with the President.
Claim: Tinubu promised to scrap office of the first lady, implement e-governance system, sell off presidential aircraft in an open letter
Verification
We found that the Special Adviser on Information and Strategy to the President, Bayo Onaanuga, has debunked the viral open letter in a tweet posted on his verified X handle on July 27, 2024.
According to him, the viral letter was fake and did not emanated from the Presidency.
“Please ignore the text of an alleged broadcast said to have been made by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu. It is totally false. It is the handiwork of mischief makers, people bent on sowing confusion and chaos in our country. Please ignore it. President Tinubu has not made any broadcast.”
Verdict: FALSE
The CDD War Room found that the letter did not originate from the Presidency, and no credible media have reported that Tinubu announced a 50% reduction in his salary or made any of the other statements attributed to him.
Leave a Reply