Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari wants you to know that he is definitely not a clone.
Speaking at a town hall in Poland on Sunday, Buhari insisted, “It’s the real me, I assure you. I will soon celebrate my 76th birthday and I will still go strong.”
One of the questions that came up today in my meeting with Nigerians in Poland was on the issue of whether I‘ve been cloned or not. The ignorant rumours are not surprising — when I was away on medical vacation last year a lot of people hoped I was dead. pic.twitter.com/SHTngq6LJU
— Muhammadu Buhari (@MBuhari) December 2, 2018
I can assure you all that this is the real me. Later this month I will celebrate my 76th birthday. And I’m still going strong!
— Muhammadu Buhari (@MBuhari) December 2, 2018
“A lot of people hoped that I was dead, and hoped I died,” he said, adding that many people reached out to the vice president to ask whether they can be his deputy. “That must have embarrassed him a lot because, he visited me when I was in London convalescing.”
Buhari — who was in Poland for COP24, the UN Climate Change conference — was addressing theories that he had actually been replaced by a Sudanese man named Jubril, or Jubril Al-Sudani, who looks like him. Rumors to that effect were sparked after Buhari spent several months in London last year for medical treatment, which at one necessitated his leaving the country for a three month stretch. His absences led many to believe that he had actually died, and been replaced by a lookalike.
These conspiracy-minded theories have also been spread by several critics of Buhari. An AFP fact-check noted that social media posts making the claim had been “shared and viewed over 500,000 times.”
One of the earliest examples is a video that made the rounds on social media last fall featuring Nnadmi Kanu, the leader of secessionist group Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB).
“The man you are looking at in the television is not Buhari… His name is Jubril, he’s from Sudan. After extensive surgery they brought him back,” Kanu says in the video.
The Man Who Parades Himself as " Buhari" Is Not The Real Buhari. Is Jubril From Sudan . #Nnamdi #KANU pic.twitter.com/kPt0YhlCuU
— Jerome chimbiko (@chimbiko_jerome) September 3, 2017
Kanu has doggedly spread this claim on social media. In one tweet, he claims that the real Buhari wrote with his left hand, whereas Jubril writes with his right hand. (AFP reported that the image of Buhari writing with his left hand was actually reversed.)
Here we have a supposed old man between 76-85 yrs that suddenly switched his writing hand from left to right.
Could the @AsoRock handlers of Jubril clarify this mix-up?
We are patiently waiting for answers and I believe millions of people deserve an explanation.@NGRPresident pic.twitter.com/y0o63ApY5I
— Mazi Nnamdi Kanu (@MaziNnamdiKanu) November 25, 2018
Reno Omokri, an aide to former President Goodluck Jonathan, has also shared the theory online.
Is it my eyes or does the person without glasses look a bit different from the other pictures? It may be that old age is affecting my sight. pic.twitter.com/P9BZfUjVsz
— Reno Omokri (@renoomokri) September 29, 2017
Garba Shehu, the president’s spokesman, said Buhari’s statement on Sunday was in response to a Nigerian at the meeting who asked whether he was the real Buhari or “the much talked about ‘Jubril from Sudan.'”
Buhari said he was looking forward to celebrating his 76th birthday later this month. “If I am getting harassed by anyone, it is my grandchildren, who are getting too many,” he joked.
Byuhari, who was first elected in 2015, is running for re-election in February.
According to The Guardian, his office also sent an emailed statement with the title “It’s Real Me, President Buhari Responds to Cloning Allegation.”