No national honours for Aisha Yesufu, others - Presidency declares

The Presidency has denied reports that President Bola Tinubu conferred national honours on controversial human rights activist Aisha Yesufu and 35 others, as claimed in a list circulating online.

The list, which has stoked controversy online, surfaced on social media on Friday, June 13, 2025.

The document listed 102 honorees, showing a clear daylight between 66 awardees announced by Tinubu during his Democracy Day address at the joint sitting of the National Assembly in Abuja on Thursday.

The development triggered hot debates, especially among supporters of the President, who frowned at the inclusion of Yesufu, a staunch critic of the government.

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However, the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Temitope Ajayi, described the circulating document as “fake news.”

In a reaction post on his Facebook page, Ajayi said, “The story on a viral list of national honours featuring the name of Aisha Yesufu and others credited to the Leadership newspaper is fake news. It should be ignored.”

The media aide further clarified that the Presidency approved fresh names for national honour, different from the ones in Tinubu's address to the joint sitting of the National Assembly on Thursday.

The President honoured 66 Nigerians who made significant contributions to Nigeria’s democratic journey as part of activities to mark this year's Democracy Day celebration.

In a similar vein, activist-cum-politician, Omoyele Sowore, has warned that he would sue for defamation if his name makes it to any list released by Tinubu to that effect.

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Sowore made this known while reacting to the viral list on Friday, reiterating his disinterest in accepting any national award from the President.

“If I were mistakenly included by Tinubu on his ‘National Award’ list, I would not only reject and denounce the award but also take definitive legal action for defamation,” the publisher wrote on his social media accounts.