The deputy director linked to the plagiarism incident in President Muhammadu Buhari’s speech at the inauguration of the “Change Begins With Me” campaign has been redeployed from the State House. Buhari had been accused of plagiarism following similarities between his speech and President Barrack Obama of United States speech. He blamed it on a media aide, saying he will be punished.
A source close to the presidency who spoke on condition of anonymity said the director who copied part of Obama’s speech has been sacked, Vanguard reports. The source said:
“At 8 o’clock on the Monday morning following the allegations, he reported at the office of the Head of Service, and he was immediately asked to vacate his position and office at the State House pending further measures which will be guided by civil service rules and regulations.”
The senior special assistant to the president on media and publicity confirmed that the officer is no longer in the State House. Following the incident, the presidency apologized for plagiarizing Obama and concrete steps were taken to ensure it does not happen again. One of the measures taken was to install plagiarism detection software to check speeches before they are delivered by the president.