VATICAN CITY (CONVERSEER) – Nigeria’s President Bola Tinubu has told a lie even at the Vatican, a place seen as a holy place.
Yes, photos were flying everywhere on Sunday about the President shaking hands with Pope Leo XIV, but nobody expected him to lie in front of the world, and now his lie has been seen by over 5 million people.
As the world, including Tinubu himself, was celebrating the installation of Robert Francis Prevost as Pope Leo XIV of the Roman Catholic Church, the ECOWAS Chairman took to social media to pepper his perceived oppositions only to end up goofing.
In a post on X (formerly Twitter), Facebook and other social media, President Tinubu claimed he was hosted to a dinner by Cardinal Pietro Parolin, which is not, even after editing the post.
His social media post read:
“Upon my arrival in Rome ahead of the solemn Mass marking the beginning of the Pontificate of His Holiness Pope Leo XIV, I was warmly received and graciously hosted to dinner by His Eminence Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Secretary of State to the Vatican.
“Our dialogue was marked by a spirit of fraternity and a shared vision for the future, focusing on common values such as peace, mutual respect, and global solidarity. I expressed Nigeria’s deep appreciation for the Vatican’s longstanding goodwill and reaffirmed our commitment to promoting interfaith dialogue, tolerance, and cooperation in an increasingly polarised world.
“As always, Nigeria remains a nation open to friendship, grounded in faith, and committed to building bridges of understanding across the world.”
Link to post: https://twitter.com/officialABAT/status/1923865247531565292?t=EcBS6RjsGRAo7MJpUoZEfg&s=19
After carefully analysing his post, fact-checkers found out the President’s post was misinforming and deemed it as “fake news.” But what punishment will he receive now? Usually, a couple of strikes can get your account banned.
“The cardinal in the picture is NOT the Secretary of State to the Vatican Cardinal Pietro Parolin,” Community Notes’s algorithms noted, quoting sources from Wikipedia and the Vatican.
Converseer reports that Cardinal Parolin is the Secretary of State of the Vatican. He was appointed a member of the new Council by Pope Francis in 2023. He served subsequently in Nigeria and Mexico.
Community Notes, a fact-checking tool set up by X since its acquisition by Elon Musk, has been labelling posts it deems as fake and misleading.
Musk said though the platform will promote free speech but will fish out fake news and misinformation at will, and it did on Sunday, as it knows no boundary. In fact, Musk’s posts have been marked by the Community Notes on various occasions.
What does this mean? Leaders also misinform, but will be quick to pass judgment on ordinary citizens who do the same.
