The presidency has denied claims that President Bola Tinubu honoured activist Aisha Yesufu with a national award, calling a widely circulated list online completely false.
The list, which appeared on social media platforms on Friday, June 14, named Yesufu among 102 supposed recipients of national honours.
The document quickly attracted attention, especially because of Yesufu’s known stance as a strong critic of the Tinubu administration. The appearance of her name sparked confusion and sharp reactions, particularly among the president’s supporters.
However, the official announcement made by President Tinubu during his Democracy Day address at the joint session of the National Assembly on Thursday, June 13, mentioned only 66 recipients of the awards. There was no mention of Aisha Yesufu in the official list.
In response to the online claims, the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Temitope Ajayi, took to Facebook to address the issue. He firmly dismissed the list, calling it “fake news” and urged the public not to believe the false report.
“The story on a viral list of national honours featuring the name of Aisha Yesufu and others credited to the Leadership newspaper is fake news. It should be ignored,” Ajayi stated.
He also noted, “The Presidency has not issued fresh names for national honour different from the ones in President Tinubu’s address to the joint sitting of the National Assembly yesterday.”
