I Never Tweeted “Recession is just a word” – Kemi Adeosun

The Minister of Finance, Kemi Adeosun, does not have any twitter account, her spokesperson, Festus Akanbi, has said in a statement in Abuja.

Akanbi, the minister’s Special Adviser on Media, said in the statement issued on Thursday, that Adeosun’s attention had been drawn to a fake Twitter handle in her name saying that “recession is just a word”.

This is coming after the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), following the tweet, accused the minister of being insensitive, and the words “out of line”, adding that recession is not a word, but a reality in the lives of millions of Nigerians.

“For the avoidance of doubt, the minister does not own a twitter account. The twitter handle currently trending and any other twitter handle presently in existence, is not, and cannot be that of the minister. A twitter account has not yet been set up for her. It is obviously fake and does not represent the views and opinions of the minister,‎” Akande said.

He also said that Adeosun did not make such a statement.

According to Akanbi, the minister addressed the media immediately after Wednesday’s Federal Executive Council meeting and did not make such a statement.

He said that the minister had consistently demonstrated empathy for the plight of Nigerians hard hit by dwindling oil prices and the impact on the economy.

“This administration is known for integrity and has never hidden the true situation of things from Nigerians, rather it has looked for ways to alleviate the hardships through social intervention programmes.

We, therefore, enjoin all well-meaning Nigerians to disregard these spurious allegations against the minister of Finance.

We remain committed to reflating and resetting the economy on a path towards sustainable growth,” Akanbi said.

However, the Nigerian Senate’s official handle had referred to the said twitter handle in one of its tweets.

The account has also been edited to a parody account.

Also, an account credited to Iceland’s Minister for Foreign Affairs, External Trade, Defence and International Development, Lilja Alfredsdottir, also tweeted a picture with Adeosun, which the @MrsKemiAdeosun account retweeted.

Following the saga, the Presidency Office of Digital Engagement (PODE) – @DigiCommsNG tweeted a screenshot from March 2016 where it denied that the account was not for the minister.

On 08/03/2016 @MrAshaye asked us about Mrs. Kemi Adeosun’s Twitter accounts and this was our response back then.. pic.twitter.com/l38uq3HUiX

— We ASOcial (@DigiCommsNG) September 1, 2016

The minister however said ‘recession is a word’ at a town hall meeting in Abuja where she was speaking on what the government is doing to revive the economy.

“I know people are concerned about recession, recession is a word, we can come out of recession, we can make sure it is as short as possible,” she had said.

Watch the video here:

Recession: Hear what the govt is doing to revive our economy pic.twitter.com/w9P25ibsgD

— APC Nigeria (@APCNigeria) September 1, 2016