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Buhari-Jubril’s Alleged Cloning Rumour: ‘What I noticed when I visited Aso Rock’
Ex- Commissioner for Information in Abia State, John Okiyi Kalu, has recalled how he personally confirmed that Muhammadu Buhari was not replaced by a body double during his time as president.
Kalu, who served under former Governor Okezie Ikpeazu from 2015 to 2023, gave the account on Tuesday through a post on Facebook.
He explained that in December 2018, he was part of a delegation from Abia State that visited Aso Rock for the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding on the Enyimba Economic City project.
This visit gave him the opportunity to closely observe Buhari, following growing rumours at the time that the former president had died and been replaced by a man named Jubril from Sudan.
The rumour, which spread widely in 2018, suggested that Buhari passed away in 2017 during a medical stay in London and had been substituted with a lookalike.
The claim was pushed mainly by Nnamdi Kanu, leader of the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), who alleged that top government officials took an oath of secrecy to hide the truth.
Kalu explained that although he never believed the rumour, he had been eager to see Buhari up close to satisfy his own curiosity.
He recalled that his memory of Buhari dated back to the early 1980s when the former military head of state ruled Nigeria alongside his deputy, Tunde Idiagbon.
During the 2018 visit, Kalu carefully examined Buhari’s physical appearance, including his height, chin, facial marks, and walking style, and concluded that he was the same person who ruled Nigeria in 1983.
He also described the former president as being friendly and humorous during the event, especially when engaging in light-hearted conversations with members of the delegation.
According to Kalu, Buhari shared a moment with a lawyer who reminded him of their past political collaboration, which drew laughter from those present.
“I must confess that the major thing on my mind when we visited Buhari’s Aso Rock in 2018 was to personally verify if he was the same General Buhari we celebrated as children in 1983 for ousting the ‘corrupt’ Shagari administration and introducing War Against Indiscipline (WAI) with his deputy Tunde Idiagbon or ‘Jubril al-Sudani’ as some of his adversaries wanted us to believe.
“For one, I knew the tall and handsome General Buhari of 1983 had a black mark (prayer mark) on his forehead that we were told in those days was because he was always touching his forehead to the ground or a prayer mat as a muslim. I also had a fair idea of his exact height, long chin, broad smiles and how he walks,” he stated.
Continuing, Mr Kalu said: “As a pure scientist, I firmly believe in observation and testing of facts, so I went and tested as expected.
“The Buhari I saw that day was the same General Muhammed Buhari that I saw in Aba in 2015 but I made two additional surprising observations: he was a very honest and jovial man with no airs.
“When we went for group photographs, after signing the MOU, as we were being arranged he was exchanging banters with Governor Okezie Ikpeazu and as a man on a mission I deliberately got very close.
“When Governor Ikpeazu introduced a popular lawyer to him and the lawyer reminded Buhari that they worked closely together from 2003 till 2015 President Buhari retorted ‘you were with me in 2003 I lost, in 2007 I lost, you were also with me in 2011 I lost and when you left me in 2015 I won.’ I couldn’t help chuckling but of course the lawyer must have left Aso Rock disappointed.”
Muhammadu Buhari, who served as Nigeria’s president from 2015 to 2023 under the All Progressives Congress (APC), died on Sunday in a London hospital at the age of 82.
He was buried on Tuesday in his hometown of Daura, Katsina State.
A TikTok user, Khadija Muhammad Yar Lele, has been remanded in a correctional facility in Kano over alleged defamation and insulting a politician.
Khadija was arraigned before the Upper Sharia Court sitting at Post Office Kano municipal presided over by Justice Garba Malafa, where the police filed a charge against her over the alleged offences.
When the charges were read to her, the defendant pleaded not guilty of all charges.
The prosecutor, Barrister Awaisu Sani Lawan, urged the court to adjourn the case to enable the prosecution to present its witnesses at next sitting.
After hearing both sides, the court ordered that Khadija be remanded in a correctional facility and adjourned the case until October 14, 2026, for her re-arraignment and continuation of proceedings.
The defendant was earlier accused of posting a video on her TikTok account in which she allegedly made insulting remarks against the complainant, identified as MD Hassan, a politician in Nassarawa Local Government Area of Kano State.
In the video, she was allegedly heard referring to the politician as a “prostitute’s son”, a statement that led to her arraignment before the court.
American rapper Nicki Minaj has followed Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC) presidential candidate Peter Obi on X, shortly after reposting his statement on the reported killings and abductions in Niger State.
A check on the platform showed that Obi is the only 2027 presidential candidate followed by the rapper on X.
Minaj’s action came shortly after she reposted a statement shared by Obi on Wednesday, in which the former Anambra State governor condemned the reported killings and abductions in Niger State, describing the situation as a systematic devaluation of human life.
Obi also called for intelligence-led action against the criminal networks responsible for attacks and abductions across the country, stressing the need for stronger measures to protect communities and citizens.
The rapper’s repost attracted reactions from Nigerians and other social media users in Nigeria and the diaspora, with some praising her for amplifying concerns about the country’s security situation and calls for justice and protection for affected communities.
Minaj’s decision to follow Obi has also drawn attention online, particularly because of the reported list of political figures she follows on the platform.
The development comes amid growing attention to the 2027 presidential race and renewed discussions on insecurity in Nigeria.
The Governing Body of Jehovah’s Witnesses has announced that members can now decide whether to accept or donate the four main components of blood based on their personal conscience.
The organisation made this known in a statement issued by its World Headquarters in Warwick, New York and made available on its website on Friday.
According to the statement, “the decision to accept red cells, white cells, plasma or platelets from another person’s blood is a matter of personal conscience.”
Jehovah’s Witnesses announce adjustment to blood transfusion policy
It added that “each Witness must decide whether or not to donate blood for the clearly expressed purpose of providing components or fractions for use by another person.”
However, the organisation said its position on whole-blood transfusion had not changed.
“The long-standing refusal of whole-blood transfusions on religious grounds, a core teaching based on the command to ‘abstain from blood’ (Acts 15:20), is unchanged,” the statement said.
International spokesman for Jehovah’s Witnesses at the organisation’s World Headquarters, Paul Gillies, said, “Blood remains sacred to Jehovah’s Witnesses, who continue to regard life and blood as precious gifts from God.
“We recognise that medical decisions involving blood components are a matter of conscience between each Witness and their God, Jehovah.”
The organisation said the adjustment “follows earlier updates regarding blood fractions and the use of one’s own blood during medical procedures.”
It added, “Since the Bible does not comment on such decisions, they are a matter of individual conscience. That same reasoning has now been extended to the four main components of blood.”
On medical care, the statement said, “Jehovah’s Witnesses love life and want the best available medical care. They do not practise faith healing, and they seek out doctors who can provide effective treatment in accord with their wishes, values and beliefs.”
Gillies said local congregations would not interfere in members’ personal decisions.
“Congregations do not involve themselves in personal decisions that rest with the individual conscience. We will continue to respect and support the personal decisions of our fellow believers.
“We are grateful, too, for the many skilled and compassionate physicians who provide quality medical care that respects our personal wishes regarding blood,” he said.
The organisation said Jehovah’s Witnesses number “over nine million worldwide, in congregations across more than 200 lands.”
Recall that the religious group had clarified its position on the use of a member’s own blood during surgery and other medical procedures.
The clarification allowed individual Witnesses to decide whether their blood could be removed, stored and returned to them during medical treatment, while the organisation maintained its position against receiving blood from another person.
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