On Thursday, October 10, a viral media post of President Buhari getting set to marry the Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development, Mrs Sadiya Umar Farouq, as the second wife was widely circulated on the social media with Facebook and Twitter users aiding its circulation.

Thewatchngr, heraldng, naijaloaded and some other online blogs also circulated the claim. They all claimed that a close source at the Presidential Villa disclosed to them that the marriage will take place on Friday, October 11, 2019.

“There are speculations that President Muhamadu Buhari is getting married to a second wife and the wedding is set to hold on Friday, October 11, 2019.

“According to sources in Aso Rock, President Buhari is getting married in a very quiet ceremony to Sadia Umar Farouq, the current Minister for Humanitarian Affairs Disaster Management on Friday,” some online media who published the news claimed.

Meanwhile, also taking about the marriage, the former Special Assistant on Social Media to the former President Goodluck Jonathan, Reno Omokri tweeted on Thursday night, saying that the rumour of the second wife is true, although the date of the marriage is not known yet.

“Apparently, the second wife story is true. What cant be confirmed is the date of the wedding fatiha. This man shouldn’t tempt his Creator. He just recovered from serious ill health and now he wants to add another yarinya! Second Term, Second Wife! Baba o! #SecondTermSecondWife”

Verification

While trying to verify the veracity of the news, Tribune Online put a call through to the Special Adviser on media and Publicity to President Muhammadu Buhari, Mr Femi Adesina, who debunked the news, saying it was a deceptive manoeuvre by those who fabricated the news.

He disclosed to Tribune Online that the news was far from the truth and that no such marriage is taking place at the Presidential Villa on Friday.

Also, a top Aso Rock source spoke with Tribune Online on phone Friday morning that there was no wedding taking place at the Presidential Villa, neither was there any wedding preparation in Ask Rock for President Buhari.

He said the news circulating round the social media was entirely false.

“How will anyone expect that the President will be getting married and it will be a secret affair?

“Nigerians like to gist and play banters, as it is another way of relaxation for many, and they have seen the president as a personality that suits their side talks. It is bad, but that is what happens.

“We can’t expect us to be as many as this in Nigeria interns of population, with some oppositions against the President and we won’t expect things like this not to happen.

“However, the news of the President getting married today is a false,” the source who won’t want his name mentioned for security reasons said.

Tribune Online finding also shows that the said bride, Sadiya Umar Farouq is currently out of the country and presently at the 70th session of the Executive Committee of the High Commissioner’s Programme going on in Geneva that is being organised by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), which she also tweeted about.

CONCLUSION

FALSE, there is no evidence to support the claim that the President is marrying a second wife.

However, while we could not gather whether the President is marrying another wife in future, it has been confirmed that no marriage is taking place at the Presidential Villa on Friday which makes the claim of President Buhari marrying a second wife on Friday FALSE. (Text excluding headline courtesy of Nigerian Tribune)

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