By Ghazali Ibrahim 
The Nigerian Presidency has refuted claims that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu conferred national honours on activist Aisha Yesufu and others whose names were not included in the official honours list announced during the June 12 Democracy Day address.
The clarification follows a viral report, purportedly published by Leadership newspaper, alleging that Yesufu, Tunde Bakare, Innocent Chukwuma of Innoson etc were among those honoured by the president during his speech to a joint session of the National Assembly on Thursday.
In an official response issued Friday night, the Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Temitope Ajayi, described the report as fake news and urged the public to disregard it.
“The story on a viral list of national honours featuring the name of Aisha Yesufu and others credited to the Leadership newspaper is fake news. It should be ignored,” Ajayi said.
“The presidency has not issued any fresh honours list different from the ones in President Tinubu’s address to the joint sitting of the National Assembly yesterday.”
During his address, President Tinubu bestowed national honours on a select group of individuals recognized for their unwavering commitment to democracy, human rights, press freedom, and national development.
Among those officially honoured were Nobel Laureate Prof. Wole Soyinka, posthumously recognized environmental activist Ken Saro-Wiwa, renowned human rights lawyer Femi Falana (SAN), and Catholic Bishop Matthew Hassan Kukah.
Prof. Soyinka received the Grand Commander of the Order of the Niger (GCON), the second-highest national honour.
Others were decorated with titles such as Commander of the Order of the Niger (CON), Officer of the Order of the Niger (OON), and Commander of the Federal Republic (CFR).
The Presidency’s rebuttal aims to clarify growing public speculation sparked by the viral misinformation and reiterates that only the individuals named in the President’s official speech were honoured.
