The Presidency has denied reports that President Bola Tinubu gave national honours to human rights activist Aisha Yesufu and several others, saying the information is false.
A list had gone viral on social media claiming that Yesufu, along with 102 other people, had been honoured by the President as part of the 2025 Democracy Day celebration. This list caused mixed reactions online, especially among supporters of the Tinubu administration.
However, the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Temitope Ajayi, said the list was fake and did not come from the Presidency.
“The story on a viral list of national honours featuring the name of Aisha Yesufu and others credited to the Leadership newspaper is fake news. It should be ignored,” Ajayi wrote in a Facebook post on Friday.
He also added, “The Presidency has not issued fresh names for national honour different from the ones in President Tinubu’s address to the joint sitting of the National Assembly yesterday.”
Aisha Yesufu is known for her role in the 2020 End SARS protests, where she became a strong voice against police brutality and government oppression. She is also a regular critic of the Tinubu government.
The confusion began after President Tinubu gave a speech on Thursday, June 13, during the joint sitting of the National Assembly, marking Democracy Day. In that speech, the President named 66 people for national awards — not 102 as claimed by the viral list.
Among those officially honoured posthumously were former Chief of Staff Shehu Musa Yar’Adua, former NEC Chairman Professor Humphrey Nwosu who oversaw the 1993 elections, and Kudirat Abiola, wife of the late MKO Abiola, who was killed during the June 12 struggle.
The Presidency has urged the public to ignore the fake list and rely only on verified government announcements.
