Former Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, on Sunday, warned politicians to desist from using her name for political gain.
In a statement by her media adviser, Paul Nwabuikwu, in Abuja, the former minister said the use of her name to give credence to particular viewpoints had persisted in spite of warnings in the past.
“In spite of several rebuttals and clarifications that we have issued over the past months, some groups and individuals are still misusing the name of former Minister of Finance, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, to further partisan political objectives, the statement said
“We would like to alert Nigerians that this unfortunate practice has increased significantly in this political season.
“This misuse of the minister’s name comes in many forms. There are fake newspaper articles published under her name. Fake quotations canvassing certain views which are falsely attributed to her. Even fake audios in which someone pretends to be the former finance minister have been going round. Most of these are typically disseminated on WhatsApp and other forms of social media.”
“In one recent example, a video of the minister was cleverly edited, leaving out crucial information and context to give a totally false impression.
“These shenanigans are designed to give the impression that she supports one particular political interest or position or the other.
“We urge Nigerians to ignore these mischievous antics by political peddlers of fiction.”
Nwabuikwu added that Okonjo-Iweala was capable of speaking for herself if and when she wanted to and did not need the help of anyone to do so.
