Director-General of the World Trade Organisation (WTO), Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, has refuted claims contained in a viral social media post that appeared to criticise President Bola Tinubu over his administration’s handling of insecurity in Nigeria.
In a statement shared on her verified X (formerly Twitter) account on Saturday, the former Nigerian Minister of Finance dismissed the message as “fake and malicious,” warning the public not to fall for falsehoods spread through social media platforms.
“Beware, this story going around on WhatsApp, Instagram, and Facebook is false! We are taking action! The person who did this could not even spell my name,” she wrote.
Okonjo-Iweala clarified that she had never issued any statement attacking President Tinubu and said her legal team had begun moves to identify and take action against those behind the impersonation.
The WTO chief condemned the spread of misinformation using her name and urged those behind the fake post to show the courage to express their opinions openly instead of hiding under her identity.
“Whichever coward did this should write the message in their own name and not hide behind mine or anyone else’s! Scammers and 419ers, stop!” she warned.
The viral message, titled “Trump didn’t ‘hit’ us our leaders did,” falsely quoted Okonjo-Iweala as accusing Nigerian leaders of neglecting their duty to protect citizens and calling on President Tinubu to stop making “damage control speeches.”
She has now categorically distanced herself from those comments, describing them as a deliberate act of impersonation aimed at misleading the public.
Okonjo-Iweala’s clarification came amid heightened debate following remarks by U.S. President Donald Trump, who recently alleged that Christians were being targeted in Nigeria.
In a post on his Truth Social platform, Trump warned that the U.S. might “go in guns blazing” if reports of religious killings persisted — comments that have drawn sharp reactions from African governments and religious bodies.
Responding to Trump’s claims, President Tinubu reaffirmed Nigeria’s commitment to freedom of religion, saying his administration remains engaged with both Christian and Muslim leaders to maintain peace across the country.
“Religious tolerance has been a core tenet of our national identity and will remain so,” Tinubu said in a statement shared on X.
He dismissed attempts to portray Nigeria as a country divided along religious lines, calling such descriptions “misleading and inconsistent with our diversity and unity.”
The President also pledged continued collaboration with the United States and other international partners to strengthen interfaith understanding and secure all communities, regardless of belief.
