The Presidency has strongly denied viral claims alleging that President Bola Tinubu intends to initiate constitutional amendments to rename the country the “United States of Nigeria” and abolish Sharia Law in northern states.
The Presidency has dismissed as entirely false and malicious a viral report alleging that President Bola Tinubu is plotting to initiate sweeping constitutional amendments to change Nigeria’s official name to the “United States of Nigeria” and abolish Sharia Law in the northern region. In a strongly worded press statement issued on Thursday, May 21, 2026, the Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, labeled the publication as a calculated piece of fake news designed to stir regional panic. Onanuga directly accused desperate political actors of fabricating the report to heat up the national polity, provoke widespread public disaffection, and destabilize the administration’s momentum as the country prepares for the upcoming general elections.
The State House categorically refuted assertions that the executive branch intends to transmit any secret legislative proposal, allegedly code-named “Project True Federation,” to the National Assembly by a December 15 deadline. Onanuga emphasized that under current democratic frameworks, altering the foundational structures of the country or its judicial components requires a rigorous and highly complex legislative process rather than a unilateral executive order. He reminded the public that any valid constitutional amendment demands a two-thirds majority vote in both the Senate and the House of Representatives, alongside the formal concurrence of at least 24 State Houses of Assembly, making secretive or arbitrary overhauls a legal impossibility.
Reiterating the administration’s immediate governance priorities, the presidential spokesperson stated that President Tinubu remains fully insulated from such divisive political distractions and is strictly focused on entrenching difficult economic reforms to deliver tangible dividends to ordinary citizens. The statement urged Nigerians to disregard the viral story in its entirety, describing its anonymous purveyors as agents of disorder who are eager to exploit religious and geopolitical sensitivities for partisan gains. “The story, which cited anonymous sources, is part of the dubious plot by some desperate politicians to create disaffection in our country, stir up a political crisis, and heat the polity ahead of the general elections. Nigerians should ignore the viral story in its entirety because the purveyors of the fake news are agents of destabilisation and merchants of disorder,” Onanuga stated, warning that similar fabricated narratives will likely proliferate as formal political campaigns begin.
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