Nigeria: No Evidence Nigeria's President Bola Tinubu Has Suspended State Oil Firm Boss As Claimed Online

14 June 2023
Africa Check (Johannesburg)
By Catherine Adeniyi

IN SHORT: The new leader of the country is setting up his stall, but there is no evidence to suggest that he has removed Mele Kyari from office.

Shortly after Nigeria's president Bola Tinubu suspended central bank governor, Godwin Emefiele, there have been viral claims that the CEO of the country's state-owned oil agency had suffered the same fate.

"Breaking News," is the headline of one such message on Facebook in Nigeria.

It goes on to claim that Mele Kyari, the NNPC Ltd boss, has been suspended with "immediate effect".

It cites a Nigerian newspaper, Daily Trust, as the source of its claim.

Kyari was appointed NNPC group chief executive by former president Muhammadu Buhari in 2019.

Tinubu was sworn in on 29 May 2023, taking over from Buhari.

The same claim appeared on Facebook here, here, here and here.

But did Tinubu also suspend the NNPC boss? We checked.

No evidence of suspension

In a graphic on its official Twitter handle on 10 June, the Daily Trust says it has not published any such news.

Part of the graphic reads: "Please do not fall for the FAKE NEWS in circulation."

Other credible news agencies have also reported that the president didn't suspend the influential oil boss.

We checked the website and Twitter handle of the country's ministry of information, but found no evidence of Kyari's suspension.

The most recent news from the ministry regarding a suspension was that of the central bank governor.

Read the original story, with links and other resources.
Africa Check is a non-partisan organisation which promotes accuracy in public debate and in the media. Twitter @AfricaCheck and www.africacheck.org

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