In an official statement, former President Muhammadu Buhari conveyed his congratulations to President Bola Tinubu on his appointment as the new Chairman of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS).
The statement was made by Mallam Garba Shehu, the spokesperson for former President Buhari. Furthermore, Shehu dismissed a false report published by a national daily claiming that the former President had fled the country and was now in exile.
Shehu emphasized that the report was baseless and urged media organizations to verify their information before publishing. He clarified that Buhari is currently in his hometown of Daura in Katsina State, spending time with his family.
According to him, “For misleading the otherwise credible newspaper to falsely report on their front page that former President Muhammadu Buhari has “fled” and is in “exile” when he is currently at home with family in Daura, Katsina State, BusinessDay newspaper should sack their reporter who didn’t do the job of checking his facts.
“BusinessDay should think 10 times before running any information from the particular reporter and verify it before believing him. Every platform has tools to verify any information, and we don’t expect anything less from BusinessDay.
“If they had browsed through different sources, they would have seen reports of the former President having returned home and enjoying his family’s company.
“A single piece of fake news in a newspaper has the capability to destroy a reputation built on years of hard work.”
In response to Tinubu’s appointment as the new Chairman of ECOWAS, Shehu stated in the press release:
“Former President Muhammadu Buhari congratulates President Bola Ahmed Tinubu on his emergence as the Chairman of the Authority of Heads of State and Government of the Economic Community of West African States, ECOWAS.
“The former President said he was elated to hear the news that President Tinubu was elected chairman at the 63rd Ordinary Session of the regional bloc held on Sunday in Bissau, capital of Guinea-Bissau.
“The former Nigerian leader said “West Africans have entrusted our new leader with an enormous responsibility, and it will be our task as citizens to support him to not let them down.
“I pray the Almighty will make his tenure as Chairman of the Authority of Heads of State and Government see to the restoration of ECOWAS as the bastion of democracy, good governance and a leader in fighting terrorism and climate change on the continent.”
