President Goodluck Jonathan has neither revealed the location of the abducted Chibok girls nor exposed masterminds of the Boko Haram insurgency, the Presidency said yesterday.
The Special Adviser to the President on Media & Publicity, Dr. Reuben Abati, in a statement on Friday in Abuja, described as a political dirty gimmick, a press release purportedly issued by him earlier yesterday, alleging that Jonathan had revealed the location of the abducted girls and exposed Boko Haram masterminds.
According to Abati, the release titled “President Jonathan Reveals Location Of Chibok Girls And Exposes Boko Haram Masterminds”, was the handiwork of fraudsters, who had hacked into his email account in an attempt to mislead the public at the expense of Jonathan administration’s credibility.
Read his full statement below:
“All media organisations and persons on my mailing list should kindly disregard the press release purportedly issued by me earlier today titled: PRESIDENT JONATHAN REVEALS LOCATION OF CHIBOK GIRLS AND EXPOSES BOKO HARAM MASTERMINDS.
“No such press release was written or circulated by me. It is clearly the work of fraudsters who have hacked into my email account in an odious attempt to mislead the public at the expense of the credibility of the Jonathan Administration.
“We totally condemn this criminal resort to political dirty tricks which seeks to cynically play on national concern and emotions about the Boko Haram insurgency and fate of the abducted Chibok girls.
“Aspects of the fraudulent press release, such as its incoherence and invitation to click on a link, would have alerted discerning persons who are conversant with the style and format of my press statements to the possibility of skulduggery.
“I find it necessary, however, to issue this disclaimer for the benefit of the unwary”.