The presidency has dismissed a social media report that claims President Bola Tinubu intends to rename Nigeria and abolish Sharia law in the northern part of the country.
According to the report, which first went viral on social media in 2025, Tinubu is seeking a constitutional amendment to rename the country the “United States of Nigeria.”
In a statement issued Thursday, Bayo Onanuga, the president’s special adviser on media and strategy, described the report as fake and was created by “desperate politicians” to “create disaffection” in the country ahead of the 2027 elections.
According to Onanuga, Tinubu has no plans to submit a bill to the national Assembly before December 15 to rename the country.
“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,” the statement reads.
“Nigerians should ignore the viral story in its entirety because the purveyors of the fake news are agents of destabilisation and merchants of disorder.
“President Tinubu has no plan whatsoever to send any bill code-named Project True Federation to the National Assembly by December 15, a few weeks before the general election.
“Under our laws, constitutional changes and amendments are serious business that require legislative scrutiny, oversight and serious debate. The process of amending the constitution is not at the President’s or the National Assembly’s whim.
“It is a task that requires a 2/3 majority in both chambers of the National Assembly and the concurrence of 24 State Houses of Assembly.
“President Tinubu is focused on the arduous task of entrenching and deepening the economic reforms his administration has embarked upon. He is focused on delivering more tangible dividends to Nigerians.
“Nigerians should be wary of consuming fake and divisive reports, which will proliferate as the nation begins political campaigns, a prelude to the general elections in January 2026.”
