The Presidency has dismissed viral social media claims that kitchen staff at the Presidential Villa in Abuja were arrested for an alleged attempt to poison President Bola Tinubu.
In a statement on Sunday via his verified X handle, Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, addressed the trending clip and firmly debunked its content.
The circulating footage, appearing to show scenes from the Presidential Villa, features a voiceover alleging that a chef at the complex was detained over a purported plot against the president.
The narrator claimed the arrest followed intelligence alerts and triggered heightened security measures, stating that a kitchen staff member was taken into custody as investigators examined evidence.
Reacting, Onanuga described the story as entirely false and misleading.
“No Aso Rock kitchen staff arrested. No Aso Rock kitchen staff attempted to poison President Tinubu. Please ignore this fake news being disseminated by this video,” he said.
Officials have yet to disclose the source of the clip or the intent behind the unfounded allegations.
Dele Fashomi, seasoned journalist and communication teacher, is a holder of Master of Arts degree in Communication and Language Arts from the University of Ibadan in 1992/93.
Earlier, he had bagged a Bachelor degree from the same university in 1984, after which he proceeded to the Nigerian Institute of Journalism, Lagos, in 1990, for a postgraduate diploma in Journalism.
He had done many courses in communication, including the EU-BBC Editing Course in 2002.
Mr. Fashomi combines effectively the practice, research and teaching of communication. And to date, he has published two academic works in communication: Issues in Communication Technology and Policy (2010) and Economic and Social Issues in Advertising and PR (2013).
He had his first break in the Nigerian media in Concord Newspapers in 1990 and today, he has over two and half decades experience earned in several newspapers.
He has been part of many start-ups, such as The Republic (1987), The Comet (1999), The Anchor 2001 – 2002; Sun Newspapers (2003); Westerner newsmagazine (2005 – 2010) as Editor; National Life (2011) as Sunday Editor, and Newswatch Newspapers (2012- 2016) as Daily Editor.
Dele Fashomi is now the Publisher/Editor-in-Chief of Newstide247.com newspaper online, which he started in July 2015. He is also into biography writing, with many books in his trail, some of which he wrote alone and one he co- authored with his mentor, Mr Dare Babarinsa, entitled: Olabiyi Durojaiye – DARE TO BE DiFFERENT. He also guided and collaborated with Pa Olatunji Odusanya in writing his autobiography – AGAINST ALL ODDS. There are many other books in the works under his pen.
