The Presidency has dismissed reports that President Bola Tinubu will visit the White House on Tuesday to meet with United States Vice President J.D. Vance.
Senior special assistant to the President on media and publicity, Temitope Ajayi, in a post on X on Monday, described the report as false and misleading.
Mr Ajayi wrote, “There is a Sahara Reporters story that President Tinubu is going to the US on Tuesday to see US Vice President J.D Vance. That story is not true. I can see that the fake news by Sahara has become the basis for some uninformed commentaries since yesterday.”
He stated that any White House meeting involving President Tinubu would be with the U.S. President, not the Vice President.
“If President Tinubu is going to the White House, he won’t be going to see a Vice President,” he said.
The clarification follows recent comments by United States President Donald Trump, who threatened possible military action against Nigeria over alleged persecution and killings of Christians.
Trump also designated Nigeria as a country of particular concern, citing what he called violence against Christians and the government’s failure to protect religious minorities.
On Sunday, Trump told AFP aboard Air Force One that he was considering various options, including possible military action in Nigeria.
“They’re killing the Christians and killing them in very large numbers. We’re not going to allow that to happen,” he said.
In a post on Truth Social, Trump said he had asked the Pentagon to map out a possible plan of attack in Nigeria, warning that Christianity was facing a threat in the country.
Responding to Trump’s remarks, Tinubu’s special adviser on policy communication, Daniel Bwala, told AFP that Nigeria remains a partner of the United States in the fight against terrorism.
“Nigeria welcomes US support to fight terrorism as long as it respects our territorial integrity,” he said.
Mr Bwala added that Trump’s comments might have been intended to prompt dialogue between both leaders, noting that Tinubu and Trump could meet soon either in the State House or the White House.
Trump had claimed without evidence that thousands of Christians were being killed in Nigeria by radical Islamists.
Tinubu, in a post on social media, said Nigeria should not be described as religiously intolerant, adding that such characterisation does not reflect the country’s reality.
