Presidency Clears Air on Tinubu’s National Honour to Aisha Yesufu

The Nigerian Presidency has dismissed reports claiming that President Bola Tinubu conferred a national honour on popular activist Aisha Yesufu.

Temitope Ajayi, Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, made the clarification on Friday amid online confusion surrounding a viral list that appeared to include Yesufu’s name among recent award recipients.

President Tinubu on Thursday honoured several Nigerians, including rights activists. One of the recipients was Shehu Sani, a well-known activist and former senator.

However, Aisha Yesufu, a vocal critic of the All Progressives Congress (APC), has publicly and consistently rejected the legitimacy of Tinubu’s presidency. A staunch supporter of Labour Party’s presidential candidate, Peter Obi, Yesufu has maintained that he won the 2023 election, which she believes was rigged in favour of Tinubu.

The mix-up began when a name resembling Aisha Yesufu’s appeared on a list of honourees circulating online. An X user claimed the award was a reward for her alleged past support of the APC, prompting a swift response from Yesufu: “God forbid! It can never be this Aisha Yesufu. Thank you.”

Temitope Ajayi addressed the misinformation, writing on X: “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.” He added that President Tinubu only conferred honours specifically mentioned during his Democracy Day address at the National Assembly, and no additional awards were given beyond those stated.