The Minister of Information and Culture, Mr Lai Mohammed, has rubbished reports that President Muhammadu Buhari will travel to the United States on Monday, describing them as fake news.
In a statement in Lagos on Sunday, Mr Mohammed called on Nigerians to ignore the reports, which claimed that the President would leave for the U.S. tomorrow (Monday) “to condole with President Trump over the floods in Houston”.
The source of the “fake and ludicrous news”, the minister said, is “one of the numerous parody Twitter accounts in his name, @MohammedLai”.
“Numerous parody accounts have been opened in my name on the two platforms, when indeed I have no Twitter or Facebook accounts,” he said.
Mr Mohammed also raised the alarm that an old NTA video was being circulated as evidence of false claims that the President has already left the country for the UN General Assembly in New York.
He was quoted as saying, “This is a 2015 NTA News video that was repackaged to look current, and to give the impression that the President left Daura, where he is celebrating Eid-el-Kabir, directly for New York.”
The Federal Government has in recent weeks expressed concerns about the use of the social media in disseminating fake news and hate speech as well as in promoting terrorism and violence.
The Information and Culture Minister explained that recent developments justify the concerns about the misuse of the social media.
According to him, the same parody Twitter account used to disseminate the fake news about the President’s purported trip was employed to circulate a fake report that he sharply criticised Senator Dino Melaye for attending the Notting Hill Carnival in the UK.
“Fake news, disinformation and hate speech are the antics of the naysayers, those who are pathologically opposed to this Administration,” he said.
“That is why we are urging Nigerians to be more discerning and to double check any information emanating from the Social Media.”
In a statement in Lagos on Sunday, Mr Mohammed called on Nigerians to ignore the reports, which claimed that the President would leave for the U.S. tomorrow (Monday) “to condole with President Trump over the floods in Houston”.
The source of the “fake and ludicrous news”, the minister said, is “one of the numerous parody Twitter accounts in his name, @MohammedLai”.
“Numerous parody accounts have been opened in my name on the two platforms, when indeed I have no Twitter or Facebook accounts,” he said.
Mr Mohammed also raised the alarm that an old NTA video was being circulated as evidence of false claims that the President has already left the country for the UN General Assembly in New York.
He was quoted as saying, “This is a 2015 NTA News video that was repackaged to look current, and to give the impression that the President left Daura, where he is celebrating Eid-el-Kabir, directly for New York.”
The Federal Government has in recent weeks expressed concerns about the use of the social media in disseminating fake news and hate speech as well as in promoting terrorism and violence.
The Information and Culture Minister explained that recent developments justify the concerns about the misuse of the social media.
According to him, the same parody Twitter account used to disseminate the fake news about the President’s purported trip was employed to circulate a fake report that he sharply criticised Senator Dino Melaye for attending the Notting Hill Carnival in the UK.
“Fake news, disinformation and hate speech are the antics of the naysayers, those who are pathologically opposed to this Administration,” he said.
“That is why we are urging Nigerians to be more discerning and to double check any information emanating from the Social Media.”
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