Makinde sacks aide for posting fake news, pictures on social media

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Barely 24 hours after he posted an untrue post on his Facebook page, Governor Seyi Makinde of Oyo State has sacked one of his media aides, Mr Murtala Adigun.

Until his removal, Mr Adigun, who is popularly known as Adigun Ibadan, served as the Special Assistant to the Governor on Digital Media.

On Thursday, the former aide, a product of the prestigious University of Ibadan, posted pictures showing some fumigation equipment purchased by the Lagos State government as an achievement of his boss.

He was highly criticised for lying about this after he captioned the images, “Oyo state Government in her readiness to combat the escalation of COVID-19 virus purchases disinfecting machines to be used across the State.”

Apparently embarrassed by the backlashes that followed the social media, which many commenters described as #FakeNews, the Governor promptly took an action and relieved Mr Adigun of his position.

On Friday, in a dismissal letter addressed to him, the Governor thanked Mr Adigun for his short stay on the job, having been appointed just over a month ago, precisely on February 7, 2020.

The letter was signed by the Secretary to the State Government, Mrs Olubamiwo Adeosun, and was dated Friday, March 27, 2020.

Mrs Adeosun stated in the letter that the governor had approved the termination of his appointment as Special Assistant (Digital Media) with immediate effect, wishing him success in future endeavours.

After his dismissal, Mr Adigun blamed social media critics for the Governor’s action, saying on Twitter today that, “You called for it, you have gotten it. Thanks to everybody that contributed to my downfall.”