Special Adviser to President Muhammadu Buhari on Media and publicity, Mr Femi Adesina has over-ruled a statement credited to the Presidential Task Force on COVID 19, saying that the President is not scheduled to address the nation on Monday.
Adesina, in a tweet, said that there is no truth in the report making the rounds in traditional and social media to the effect that the president would address the nation, on Monday, to give updates on the Coronavirus pandemic.
In a terse tweet from Adesina’s verified twitter account, @Femi Adesina, the presidential spokesman said that the report of a presidential broadcast was sheer fake news and not on the agenda of the president for Monday, May 18, 2020.
The tweet read, “No presidential broadcast on COVID-19 updates today. None was planned. Rather, the Presidential Task Force will during its usual media briefings bring the nation up to speed on the next steps” Adesina had tweeted.
On the other hand, Sani Aliyu, the national coordinator of the (PTF) on COVID-19 while speaking on a Channels Television’s Sunday Politics program monitored by The New Diplomat had hinted that a presidential address was slated for Monday while urging Nigerians to be patient.
“I cannot say categorically what we should be expecting, we have to wait for Mr. President to let us know his decision. We have submitted our report. If you recall, two weeks ago, we started a process of gradual segmented reduction in the term of the lockdown.
We will hopefully know of the next stage or phase within the next 24 hours. We have made our recommendations, so, we have to wait for his decision tomorrow” Aliyu had said.
Now, Adesina has come out to refute the claim saying no presidential broadcast was planned.
