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How Vanguard, Daily Post changed the context of Femi Adesina’s statement on Buhari’s return
Again, Vanguard and Daily Post intentionally reported Femi Adesina's words out of context

The statement by Femi Adesina, Special Adviser to President Muhammadu Buhari on Media and Publicity, on his principal’s state of health and duration of medical trip, has been maliciously misconstrued by DailyPost and Vanguard.

Adesina, speaking on Channels Television, assured Nigerians that there is no cause for alarm as President Buhari is just going for a medical review, and expressed hope for his scheduled return on Saturday.

“In terms of his health, there is no cause for alarm. It is just a medical review. We all need that from time to time as there is nobody that is 100 healthy.”

“It is only God that has the final authority on things but all things being equal, he would be back on Saturday.”

Responding to questions on the nature of Buhari’s illness, Adesina said the President is in a better position to disclose it

“The nature of his illness is private and personal. The fact that the man is a President does not deny his right and privileged to his private life.

“He is the only one who has the authority to tell the Country, it will be unethical for anyone to speak on it.

“Unless he comes out voluntarily and willingly to tell the Country his ailment even his Medical Doctor does not have the right to disclose his ailment.”

While DailyPost had quoted Adesina verbatim, it still titled the news story: “We can’t guarantee Buhari’s return, only God can – Presidency”.

The headline gives a misleading narrative to what is contained in the news as it depicts that Presidency is saying it does not know when Buhari will return.

According to Shehu Garba, Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, who announced the trip, Buhari would spend four days before returning to the Country.

The online version of Vanguard featured the story on Community Vanguard; a citizen journalism site of the Media, where people post news themselves, engage in political discussions, information sharing, among others.

The Community Vanguard is owned by Vanguard as it carries Vanguard’s logo and the sub-domain of its original domain. No one can have the sub-domain of someone else’ domain. It is an avenue for Vanguard to publish fake news without scrutiny as it even shares from http://community.vanguardngr.com on its social media handle whereas the stories there are not verified.

Community Vanguard reported the story as “Pray for Buhari as we can’t guarantee Nigerians President’s return for now, only God can – Presidency”.

Evidence that Vanguard is responsible for Community Vanguard is seen on January 18, when it posted a video of some men dancing and holding guns, referring to them as Fulani Herdsmen, a claim that was never verified nor backed with evidence. This was shared on Vanguard’s main page.

The video titled “VIDEO: 

Fulani Herdsmen Dance And Show Off Their Assorted AK47 Rifle Guns Which Costs N1Million Each”, had no content nor any evidence that give credit to the headline.

The news was also posted by one VISTA NEWS, by an author who had posted various unverified news stories in the past.

The story contains only three paragraphs and has ‘READ MORE’ at the end, which redirects to another site https://www.thewatchnews.com/

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