Former Minister of Finance, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, has warned politicians against using her name to spread falsehood.
In a statement issued on her behalf by her spokesman, Paul Nwabuikwu, the former minister said some groups and individuals had used her name to further their political objectives.
The statement read in parts:
“This misuse of the minister’s name comes in many forms. There are fake newspaper articles published under her name.
“Fake quotations canvassing certain views which are falsely attributed to her. Even fake audios in which someone pretends to be the former finance minister have been going round.
“Most of these are typically disseminated on WhatsApp and other forms of social media. In one recent example, a video of the minister was cleverly edited, leaving out crucial information and context to give a totally false impression.
“These shenanigans are designed to give the impression that she supports one particular political interest or position or the other. We urge Nigerians to ignore these mischievous antics by political peddlers of fiction.
“Dr. Okonjo-Iweala is very capable of speaking for herself if and when she wants to and does not need the help of anyone to do that.
“In this political season of forged and fake news, we urge the media and the public to crosscheck the authenticity of any quotations, articles, audios and videos attributed to Dr Okonjo-Iweala before giving them credence or going public with them.
“If it does not come directly from Dr. Okonjo-Iweala’s twitter account then kindly discount it.”