Governor Douye Diri of Bayelsa State, on Saturday, said he does not know nor have contact or relationship with a South African parliamentarian, Zanele Sifuba.
Sifuba is at the centre of a trending sex scandal in South Africa over a leaked video tape.
The Director, New Media to the Governor, Kola Oredipe, in a statement explained that Diri has not been to South Africa in the last ten years describing media reports linking the governor to the trending story involving the female South African parliamentarian, as a mere distraction.
Oredipe said that the Facebook account on which the post was made purportedly belonging to the woman was created on Thursday, November 10, 2022.
He explained that the scandal first appeared in the social media in South Africa on Oct 31, and was linked to an unnamed Nigeria youth adding that those behind the post twisted it with a fake account with the governor’s image with the intent to tarnish his image.
He wondered how a governor of Bayelsa State would resort to blackmail for N8 million and urged the public to discountenance the story which he described as untrue and lacking in merit.
The statement titled, ‘Trending South African Sex Story: A Mere Distraction’ reads, “Our attention has been drawn to a fake news circulating online about Governor Douye Diri of Bayelsa State over an alleged nude video leak of a South African female legislator, Zanele Sifuba.
“The post linking the governor to the allegation suddenly appeared on the Facebook page purportedly belonging to the woman after trending for more than a week.
“Our investigation however revealed that the said account is fake and was only created on Thursday, November 10, 2022.
