Senior Special Assistant to the President on Public Affairs, Dr. Doyin Okupe, has refuted a comment on Boko Haram attributed to him by some social media and purportedly made during a weekend TV programme.

The presidential spokesman in a statementreleased late yesterday in Abuja, the Nigerian capital, also said there was no truth whatsoever in reports about the resignation of the Chairman of the Subsidy Re-investment Programme (SURE-P), Dr. Christopher Kolade.

Said Okupe in the statement, a copy of which was made available to News Express:

“My attention has been drawn to a statement purportedly made by me on an interview programme aired on a Lagos Television station (TV Continental) on Sunday 7^th, April, 2013 to the effect thatthe ‘Boko Haram sect is working according to the tenets of Islam…one thing is certain, Boko Haram will never be able to Islamize Nigeria and cannot convert President Jonathan from Christianity to Islam.’

“This allegation was first made on the Social Media by one person who writes under the name AREWA VANGUARD on his Facebook Account. This false concoction has unfortunately been re- posted by a number of other Facebook and twitter account holders and some online Media.

“Let me state categorically that I, Doyin Okupe NEVER made such a statement either on the Television Continental interview referred to by these desperate people or on any other occasion.

It is instructive to note that the Producer /Presenter of the TVC programme, STRAIGHT TALK,Eshomomoh Imoudu issued the following statement on his Facebook account when he first saw the posting yesterday:

“ ‘I SAW ON FACEBOOK A STATEMENT PURPOTEDLY MADE BY DOYIN OKUPE ON

TVC NEWS TALK SHOW, STRAIGHTTALK, POSTED BY ONE AREWA VANGUARD.I PLACE ON RECORD THAT DOYIN OKUPE NEVER MADE SUCH STATEMENT ABOUT ISLAM, NOT ON MY SHOW. AREWA VANGUARD, YOUR QUOTE IS A FALSIFICATION OF FACTS.’

“This denial by the man who recorded and transmitted the interview on TVCought to have put paid to the malicious fabrications of this coward who goes by the pseudonym AREWA VANGUARD on Facebook and a few other persons who had re posted the falsehood.

“I wish to enjoin the public to ignore these lies being peddled by those who obviously do not wish Nigeria well and whose real agenda is to throw spanners into the ongoing efforts of President Goodluck Jonathan to find a lasting solution to insurgency by the Boko Haram sect.

“Those who know me will testify to the fact that I have great respect for my religion and other faiths and will notfor any reason disparagethe Islamic faith or any other religion and its adherents neither will I ever attribute the murderous pursuit of an insurgent group to the tenets of any religion.

“I wish to use this opportunity to enjoin fellow citizens, especially users of online Media resources of the need to exercise greater caution in re-broadcasting other people’s comments without verification of their truthfulness in order to avoid playing into the hands of mischief makers who appear desperate to cause disharmony in the land.

“A case in question is the currently circulating news in the social Media about the purported resignation of the Chairman of the Subsidy Re-investment Programme (SURE-P) Dr. Christopher Kolade which is also untrue.”