This man was notorious for spreading disinformation as a minister. Today, he’s partnering Nasarawa govt against fake news

By Adeniyi Kabeer On Feb 28, 2024

Abdullahi Sule, governor of Nasarawa, has announced plans to partner with Bruit Costaud (BC), a firm led by Lai Mohammed, former information and culture, to tackle fake news and hate speech in the state.

Governor Sule, who hosted Mohammed at the government house in Lafia on Tuesday, said the former minister is experienced in tackling the menace of fake news and hate speech.

“You mentioned an area where you had gone through a lot of challenges,” the governor partly said. “Maybe you will take us out of it – fake news. Fake news is very common especially here in Nasarawa where someone reported that N40 million was stolen from the bedroom of the governor.

“I didn’t report that, I didn’t know how that happened. I don’t have N40 million in my bedroom. Unfortunately, some people took it seriously.”

On his part, Lai Mohammed said his firm could organise workshops where it could train information officers in the state on ways to counter fake news and hate speech.

“To achieve this, we invite you to explore our specifically tailored services in the following areas; facilitation of capacity building for information officers on strategic communications, social media engagement and countering fake news and hate speech,” Mohammed said.

“Facilitation of capacity building for public officials: conduct training sessions for public officials on effective communication strategies, media relations, public speaking, and international engagement protocols.

“Conduct special sessions with public officials, traditional rulers, religious leaders, security chiefs, civil society.

“We believe that collaboration between our firm and the government of Nasarawa state can yield significant benefits for the people of the state.”

Meanwhile, the former minister has also been guilty of spreading false information. SolaceBase reviews some of the instances where Mohammed spread disinformation in the past.

On Thursday, November 8, 2018, Mohammed appeared on the network service of the Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria; during one of her early morning programmes. While trying to boast about the achievements of the Buhari Administration, he stated that electricity significantly improved under this government. He made the claim via the Twitter handle of the Federal Ministry of Information and Culture.

Meanwhile, on the day the claim was made, peak power generated was actually 4964.2MW; and the lowest power generated was 3437.1MW. This was according to the Nigeria Electricity System Operator (NESO).

While Lai Mohammed said the release of about 105 kidnapped Dapchi school girls took place without a ransom fee, the United Nations said the government paid a “large ransom” to free scores of female students kidnapped by Boko Haram.

In another instance, when ex-president Muhammadu Buhari was sick and away from the country, Lai Mohammed told journalists that “I can say without any hesitation that Mr. President is well, is hale and hearty. No question about that.” But upon his return to Nigeria, Buhari himself punctured Mohammed. He revealed that he underwent a lot of tests and even had a blood transfusion. The President said he never experienced such sickness since he was young.