Aisha Buhari, wife of President Muhammadu Buhari, has blamed hackers for the fake news about the old naira notes posted on her Instagram page on Tuesday.
The now-deleted post claimed President Buhari had directed the CBN to reissue and recirculate old N200, N500 and N1000 notes.
Disclaiming the post, Mrs Aisha wrote: It has come to my attention that a certain fake news was posted on my social media handle, Instagram which also directly connects to my Facebook page, earlier this morning. I have since directed that it should be deleted.
“This is without a doubt the criminal actions of the person(s) who were responsible for deleting quite a number of my posts since 2018 to late last year when I posted a video and picture of my hands with Henna design of ABAT insignia on the day I launched the APC Women Presidential Campaign Committee for Bola Ahmed Tinubu in Ilorin, Kwara State, my post on the event for the Traditional and Complementary Alternative Medicine (TCAM) conference and 17 other posts.
“This person is a hacker, criminally minded with the intention to continue attacking my reputation through my social media platforms.
“But I am assuring you that this is the first and last I am disclaiming fake news on my handle. It is the responsibility of the security agencies to find out who am I sharing my social media handles with, despite being verified accounts, and take all necessary actions.”
The CBN had earlier debunked the fake news shared on the president’s wife’s social media pages through its director of corporate communications Osita Nwanisobi who advised Nigerians to beware of fake news.
“The rebuttal from the CBN read: “The attention of the Central Bank of Nigeria has been drawn to some fake and unauthorized messages quoting the CBN as having authorized the Deposit Money Banks to collect the old N200 and N1,000 Banknotes. For the avoidance of doubt, and in line with Mr. President’s broadcast of February 16, 2023, the CBN has been directed to ONLY reissue and recirculate the old N200 banknotes and this is expected to circulate as legal tender for 60 days up to April 10, 2023. Members of the public should therefore disregard any message and/or information not formally released by the Central Bank of Nigeria on this subject.
“Media practitioners are advised to PLEASE verify any information from the correct sources before publication.”
President Buhari had on Thursday last week ordered that the old N200 notes should remain legal tender until April 10.
The old N200 notes will coexist with the new N200 notes, the president said.
He, however, did not allow the continued use of the old N500 and N1,000 notes.
