Aidoghie Paulinus, Abuja 

The United States Diplomatic Mission to Nigeria, has said that the online message attributed to United States Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo, on the presidential candidate of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, is fake.

In a message on its Facebook page, the United States called on the public to disregard such message, stating unequivocally that it was fake news.

The controversial message attributed to the United States Secretary of State captioned as breaking news, read: “I personally refused to meet him or have anything to do with him (Atiku). I am really surprised that an individual indicted in the United States of America of huge corruption is being considered for Nigeria President and citizens are even supporting him.”

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But the United States said: “#FakeNews Alert!  The U.S. Mission to Nigeria has become aware of a material making the rounds online purporting to be from U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. We want to state unequivocally that the post is fake.  If you have seen such manufactured item on Facebook, or received it via WhatsApp, please communicate that it is false.”