The First Lady, Mrs Aisha Buhari, has disclaimed the fake news on old higher Naira banknotes posted on her verified Instagram and Facebook handles on Tuesday, challenging security agents to unmask the hacker behind the fake news and punish the culprit.
The Wife of the President also noted that the author of the fake press statement credited to the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) on the purported extension of the validity of old N500 and N1000 banknotes, was a criminally minded hacker with the intention to continue attacking her reputation through her social media platforms.
LEADERSHIP reports that the CBN had earlier debunked the fake news posted on the verified Instagram and Facebook handles of the First Lady of Nigeria.
The fake news posted on the two social media handles of the First Lady purportedly indicated that the old N200, N500 and N1000 banknotes have been allowed to be recirculated as legal tender till May 1, 2023 contrary to the directive of President Muhammadu Buhari in a nationwide broadcast that only the old N200 banknote is allowed as legal tender till April 10, 2023.
But, Mrs Buhari, who took to her Facebook page hours later on Tuesday, disclaimed the message, saying that she had directed the removal of the fake and distorted press statement.
The First Lady wrote: “It has come to my attention that a certain fake news was posted on my social media handle, Instagram which also directly connects to my Facebook page, earlier this morning. I have since directed that it should be deleted.
“This is without a doubt the criminal actions of the person(s) who were responsible for deleting quite a number of my posts since 2018 to late last year when I posted a video and picture of my hands with Henna design of ABAT insignia on the day I launched the APC Women Presidential Campaign Committee for Bola Ahmed Tinubu in Ilorin, Kwara State, my post on the event for the Traditional and Complementary Alternative Medicine (TCAM) conference and 17 other posts.
“This person is a hacker, criminally minded with the intention to continue attacking my reputation through my social media platforms.
“But I am assuring you that this is the first and last I am disclaiming fake news on my handle. It is the responsibility of the security agencies to find out who am I sharing my social media handles with, despite being verified accounts, and take all necessary actions.”
