THE Presidency has firmly denied circulating social media reports alleging that kitchen staff at the Aso Rock Presidential Villa were arrested over an alleged plot to poison President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, describing the claim as entirely false and misleading.
News Point Nigeria reports that the rebuttal followed the emergence of a viral video suggesting that a member of the presidential kitchen staff had been taken into custody over a purported poisoning attempt targeting the President.
The video, which has been widely shared across social media platforms, purportedly shows activity within the Presidential Villa accompanied by a voiceover narrating what it described as a “shocking arrest of a presidential chef.”
According to the narration, the alleged arrest followed intelligence alerts suggesting suspicious activities linked to food preparation procedures within restricted areas tied to presidential operations.
The video further claimed that: A special police squad swiftly intervened. The suspect, allegedly a kitchen staff member attached to presidential services, was taken into custody for questioning.
“Authorities acted discreetly to avoid public panic while neutralising potential threats”.
It also stated that investigations were ongoing and cautioned that allegations did not automatically imply guilt.
Reacting to the claims, the Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, dismissed the report in unequivocal terms.
Taking to his official X (formerly Twitter) account late on Sunday, Onanuga shared the video and described it as fake news.
He wrote: “No Aso Rock kitchen staff arrested. No Aso Rock kitchen staff attempted to poison President Tinubu. Please ignore this fake news being disseminated by this video.”
His statement sought to quell speculation and reassure the public that no such security breach or arrest had occurred within the Presidential Villa.
As of the time of filing this report, no security agency has confirmed any investigation, arrest, or attempted poisoning incident at Aso Rock.
For now, the Presidency maintains that there was no poisoning attempt, no arrest of kitchen staff, and no security scare at the Presidential Villa.
The public has been urged to disregard the viral video and rely only on verified information from official sources.