Presidential office responds to claim that Nigeria is planning to change its name and abandon sharia law.

The Presidency dismissed on Thursday a report that claimed President Bola Tinubu was planning constitutional amendments to rename Nigeria as the United States of Nigeria.

In a statement from the president’s media aide, Bayo Onanuga, the report alleging an effort to abolish Sharia law in the North was also called fake news.

Onanuga said the story, which relied on anonymous sources, was “part of the dubious plot by some desperate politicians to create disaffection in our country, stir up a political crisis, and heat the polity ahead of the general elections.”

“Nigerians should ignore the viral story in its entirety because the purveyors of the fake news are agents of destabilisation and merchants of disorder,” he added.

The aide clarified that the president has “no plan whatsoever to send any bill code‑named Project True Federation to the National Assembly by December 15, a few weeks before the general election.”

“President Tinubu is focused on the arduous task of entrenching and deepening the economic reforms his administration has embarked upon. He is focused on delivering more tangible dividends to Nigerians,” the statement said.

“Nigerians should be wary of consuming fake and divisive reports, which will proliferate as the nation begins political campaigns, a prelude to the general elections in January 2026,” the statement added.