The Presidency has dismissed a report claiming that the President is scheduled to visit the United States on Tuesday for a meeting with US Vice President J.D. Vance.
The Senior Special Assistant to President Bola Tinubu on Media and Publicity, Temitope Ajayi, in a post via his official X handle on Monday, described the report as false and misleading, saying it had fuelled unnecessary speculation and “uninformed commentaries.”
Ajayi added that if Tinubu were to visit the White House, he would be meeting with President Donald Trump, not the Vice President.
He wrote, “There’s a Sahara Reporters story that President Tinubu is going to the U.S. on Tuesday to see U.S. Vice President J.D. Vance. That story is not true. I can see that the fake news by Sahara has become the basis for some uninformed commentaries since yesterday. If President Tinubu is going to the White House, he won’t be going to see a Vice President.”
The clarification came after reports claimed that Tinubu was set to travel to Washington for “top-level diplomatic engagements” amid heightened global attention on the alleged persecution of Christians in Nigeria and a recent statement by Trump threatening possible military action.
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Trump, in a post on his Truth account on Saturday, warned that the United States might “go in guns blazing” if the Nigerian government failed to stop the alleged killing of Christians.
In response to the growing controversy, the President over the weekend denied any claims of a “Christian genocide,” reaffirming that Nigeria remains a democracy committed to religious freedom and equality for all citizens.
Tinubu, in an official statement via his X handle, emphasised that the Nigerian Constitution guarantees freedom of religion and that his administration continues to engage religious leaders across faiths to promote peace and tackle insecurity.
He added that external narratives portraying Nigeria as religiously intolerant were inaccurate and unreflective of the country’s diversity and efforts to safeguard religious freedoms.
Tinubu reiterated that Nigeria opposes religious persecution and remains committed to working with the U.S. and other global partners to protect communities of all faiths.
Punch
