Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, has denied validating a memo purportedly from the Office of the Chief of Staff to the President which authorised N3 billion to verify the National Social Register.
Onanuga spoke through his X handle on Thursday.
The presidential aide was reacting to a media report that quoted him as saying that President Bola Tinubu had approved the release of N3 billion to verify the National Social Register under the former administration of Muhammadu Buhari.
He also allegedly validated a memo dated December 18, 2023, from the Office of Chief of the Staff to the President, Femi Gbajabiamila, titled ‘Conveyance of approval; Re: appeal to use N3,000,000,000.00 (three billion naira) from the Covid-19 palliative fund for verification of the national social register’.
The memo read: “The above subject refers. Please be informed that Mr President has approved the expenditure of N3,000,000,000.00 (three billion naira) only, from the Covid-19 Palliative Fund for verification of the National Social Register. Please accept the assurance of my highest regards.”
Reacting to the media report, Onanuga denied validating the memo in his X post titled, “Just for the records: I didn’t validate any document”.
He said, “A newspaper report claiming that I validated a document purportedly signed by the Chief of Staff to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu was false.
“I never said anything like that. What I said was that journalists and the general public should be patient and await the findings of the EFCC, which has been asked to investigate the alleged infractions in the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs.”